Bound By Our Hearts
by PhoenixClaw2128
Summary: Evil is rising. Darkness is falling over the land. But ancient legends tell of four heroes, who will defeat the encroaching evil. A boy from Onett. A girl from Twoson. A boy from Winters. And a boy from Dalaam. Together they will connect with the world, and become Bound by their Hearts. (Complete!)
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

Terror. All encompassing.

Where was he? He'd never been here before.

"H…u…r…t…s…"

What was that? It wasn't anyone he knew, the voice wasn't familiar.

But then, it wasn't a voice.

Was it?

It sounded human.

But it wasn't.

How did he know that?

"S…a…p…p…h…i…r…e…"

It knew his name?

Blonde hair. A torn pink dress.

She needed his help!

Broken glasses. A spent bottle rocket.

No! He couldn't be dead!

A shattered sword. A royal outfit.

All of them! Gone!

Only him…

"H…u…r…t…s."

He lifted his bat in his left hand. Where was his right?

He could have sworn he had two arms…

"H…e…l…p… m…e…"

He prayed. Evil incarnate swallowed it whole.

Even being bound to the earth could not save him.

Insane laughter. Where was it coming from?

It wasn't from him.

Nor the pained voice that was and wasn't human.

A fat boy. Blue skin.

Ah. Of course. Only he would aid a creature like this.

What? What creature? There was nothing else besides them.

Except for the void. Eternity.

Evil incarnate.

He could not comprehend the monstrosity that had swallowed the universe, and all of its light.

"F…r…i…e…n…d…s…"

Ah. That's what unnerved him.

The human slash not human had his voice.

Why did it have his voice?

He prepared Hope in his hand. Light shone out from between the bat and his palm.

Hope? Why was light appearing?

Hope.

Prayers.

He was Bound to the Earth, yes. But not just that.

How many people had they touched?

How many friends had they made?

How much light did they shine upon their darkness ridden world?

No, not just the earth.

They were Bound by their Heart's.

His friends grabbed his shoulder, hooked an arm around his own, gave a weak thumbs up.

All of them unique in their own way.

They screamed and charged.

What was he charging at?

Why struggle?

Why fight?

Because he had hope.

Together, they would overcome.

An abyss.

Below him, the red and black opened into even more black.

He fell.

And fell.

And fell.

Until he was swallowed up by the darkness.

* * *

Chapter One: Beginnings

Sapphire started as he awoke, a large rumble in the earth and crashing sound shaking him awake. As he scrambled to look around at what was happening or where he was, he accidentally fell off of his bed and slammed into the ground.

He groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. Slowly his panic faded and he remembered where he was. His second story bedroom, in his hometown Onett, on the continent of Eagleland.

What was he dreaming about? He couldn't remember. Probably just another nightmare. He stood up and dusted off his pajamas, and went to exit his room. He winced as he stepped on an action figure, nearly falling over and bumping into his drawer. He neared the door and fumbled with the door handle for a minute, before successfully opening it.

As he exited into the second-floor hallway, he flicked a light switch by his door to turn the light on. Warm light filled the hall, letting him see where he was going. His first priority was his sister's room, to make sure she was okay. He walked towards her door, before knocking. "Sis?"

"Come in!" He turned the doorknob and entered, flicking on the light switch to see his sister sitting on her bed in her own pajamas. "Hey bro, did the sound wake you up too?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I came to see if you were alright."

"Aw!" She grinned and nodded. "Don't worry I'm A-okay! Are you going to go see what that was?"

"If mom will let me, then yeah." Sapphire shrugged. "I'm pretty curious about what could have happened."

"I bet it was aliens!"

"I'm… not even going to dignify that with a response." His sister pouted at him and he grinned to show he was kidding. "In all seriousness, it was probably a transformer explosion."

"You should take your bat! You can beat up any evil creatures you find!"

"Trace, my bat's already cracked, I'm not risking it breaking. You did get it for my thirteenth birthday." The memory made him grin. His sister knew that he'd loved baseball, and was on the school baseball team every year, so she'd saved up and gotten him a bat for his birthday almost a full year ago. Sapphire also remembered that he'd have to save up and get her something nice. Some new dolls maybe?

"Well, whatever it is, good luck! Oh, do you think mom will let me stay up late? I can't get back to sleep." Sapphire snorted at his sister's attempt to justify staying up and flicked off the light before closing the door.

He turned and walked down the stairs, hand on the railing. His mom was sitting downstairs with King, the family dog, and looked over when she heard him walk down the steps. "Oh, Sapphire!"

"Hey, mom. What's going on, what was that noise earlier?"

"I'm not sure. I saw flashing lights outside, so I think the police are checking it out."

"Can I go check it out?"

She looked at him for a moment, before sighing. "Well, you'd probably sneak off if I told you not to. Just be careful, and put on your clothes alright?"

"Got it, mom!" He walked back upstairs to change, slipping on his trusty baseball cap, a striped shirt, and jeans. When he walked back downstairs he slipped on his sneakers, before exiting into the slightly chilly night air.

He looked around and didn't see many people, obviously because it was so late, but he did see several red and blue lights ahead so he headed towards those. He walked down the dirt road, passing by several police officers. Some of them nodded at him, while others just ignored him. What confused him was why so many were out here. Sure, something may have exploded or whatever, but were that many cops really necessary?

He circled around a hill, passing by a small house, whose owner he never talked to. He was some creepy old guy named Lier X. Agerate. Well, that was a bit mean spirited. He wasn't really creepy per se, more over-enthusiastic about stuff. Still, he didn't want to be alone with the guy. Either way, he should probably check up on the guy later, after all the cops were seeming to congregate on the hill over his house.

He continued climbing upwards towards a small plateau that he would sometimes relax on, watching the clouds. However, when he neared the top, he could see several police barricades, a couple of police cars, and several policemen. Sapphire wasn't confused about the barricades, but he was confused about the police cars. How the heck did they maneuver those up there? The path was barely wide enough for a couple of people side by side!

A bob of blonde hair brought a groan out from Sapphire as he saw his… 'friend', Pokey. He was walking back and forth, annoying the cops if their faces were any indication. He thought about just turning back so he wouldn't have to deal with him, but Pokey turned and saw him before he could. "Hey, Sapphire."

"Hey, Pokey."

He ran up, placing his hands on his hips. "Don't be rubberneckin'. You're gettin' in the cops', er, I mean Officer's, way!" He grinned, placing a hand on his chest. "You can go home now. Tomorrow, I, Pokey, will tell you more about the meteorite. I'm fine here, but you're bugging the officers!"

Sapphire blandly stared at him and looked over his shoulder to see the officers practically on the verge of smacking him upside the head. "Well, have fun with that Pokey." He waved, before immediately leaving to get away from the… heavy set boy. No, that was putting it mildly. Chubby? Nope. Fat? Yeah, that's about right.

He stumbled at that thought, before shaking it off. Why was that familiar? No, it was probably just him being tired or something. Either way, what Pokey said definitely interested him. A meteorite? That sounded awesome! Too bad Pokey got there before him, the cops would have probably let him see a peek at least if his neighbor hadn't started annoying them.

As he walked back down the small plateau, he could still hear Pokey's voice, though thankfully it got quieter the further he got from the place. When he got home, he saw his mother standing by the door, smiling at him. "Hello, dear, you don't have to tell me about what happened now, you scoot on up to bed, and tell us in the morning."

Sapphire could barely get a word in edgewise that he wasn't tired, the cold air having woken him up before he was dragged upstairs to his room. He was in bed before he'd realized what happened. He sighed and took off his hat, deciding to just try and get some sleep.

A bit later, when he was just feeling the fog of sleep claim him, a loud banging woke him up. He fell out of bed for the second time that night and scowled, grabbing his cap to cover his bed head, and his trusty cracked baseball bat so he could knock whoever was slamming at the front door unconscious for waking him.

As he stalked down the stairs, passing his sister on the way, he noticed his mother also coming out of her bedroom. He reached the front door and pulled it open, revealing Pokey about to slam his fist into the door again. "Pokey," he started, baseball bat tapping up and down on his shoulder menacingly, "Whatever you need, it can wait 'till morning."

"W-w-wait!" He shoved his foot in the door before he could close it, shoving his way inside. "J-just Listen! When I took Picky to where the meteor landed, well," he paused when he saw Sapphire's mom standing behind Sapphire. "Oh, good evening ma'am! You look lovely as ever!" He snickered.

"Pokey, You're taking awfully long to get to the point, especially for a man in swinging distance…"

"Right! Uh, anyway, the police that were guarding the meteor suddenly left to deal with the Sharks, you know the local gang?" Sapphire nodded. They were a relatively new gang, but already they had practically taken over south Onett, tagging up the buildings, Terrorizing people, and worst of all, they'd taken over the arcade! "Anyway, when I turned around, Picky was gone!"

Sapphire frowned. While Picky was the younger brother, he was remarkably more likable and much more mature than Pokey. It was unlikely that he'd wander off alone. Heck, Sapphire preferred hanging out with him rather than Pokey, even though he was a few years younger than them.

"I blame the cops! It certainly wasn't my fault at all!" Sapphire let a deadpan expression settle onto his face. Yeah, it was his fault then. Of course, what really annoyed him was how certain Pokey seemed of that. Like he was legitimately correct. "Ugh, when my dad gets back I know I'm gonna get it… anyway, you're my bestest friend, so won't you help me find Picky?"

"Sure. You won't stop bothering me anyway." He quickly slipped on his shoes and waved to his mother. Really, the best way to get rid of Pokey was to just agree and go with him, even if just to humor him.

"Sapphire, wait!" She hurried over before he could leave, King trotting after her. "I won't stop you since it's dangerous for Picky to be out on his own, but at least take King! He may be unreliable sometimes, but I'd feel better if you take him along."

"Alright mom, can't argue with that." He bent over and pet King. "Come on bud, let's go find Picky."

"Bro!" He turned to see Tracey running over with his backpack and a cookie in a wrapper. "If you're going to fight monsters, you need to have your bag! And this cookie will restore your health points!"

"I think I've let you play too many of my video games…" he took the bag and slipped the cookie in, before shrugging it on. He grinned and ruffled his sister's hair, "Might as well take it then. I'll make sure to split the loot with you when I get back."

The sudden ringing of a phone made him groan before he slumped over to it. "Seriously, it's near dawn! Who would call at this time?!" He picked up the phone, pressing it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey there kid!"

"Eh- Dad?" His father was a businessman, often going on long trips and bringing home lots of money. Of course, that meant that he was gone for large swathes of time, but he was forgiven. After all, they didn't live in poverty because of him.

"That's right! I was busy at work when I saw the news that a meteorite fell! And knowing my little boy, I wanted to call and wish you luck in your investigation! Be careful with the monsters!"

"Dad, there aren't going to be any monsters…" he blushed at his dad calling him little, before shaking his head. "Anyway, I've got to go. Gotta help Pokey find his brother."

"Ah, that's my boy! Helping out everyone he meets, making so many friends! How many people are you bound by the heart with you by now…" his father's voice trailed off as pain shot through his head.

Terror.

Eternal darkness.

We are bound together, through thick and thin.

Sapphire shook his head. "S-sorry dad, what was that last part?"

"I was just saying that I feel like the father of a hero!"

"Heh, thanks, dad." He smiled brightly, practically lighting up the room. He really looked up to his father, and now he couldn't wait for the next time he got home.

"One more thing, I've deposited some money in your bank account! You still have your ATM card, right?"

"Yep, right here." He patted his back pocket as he said so, feeling his wallet, before remembering his father couldn't see him.

"Alright! Hey, maybe you could use some of that money to take a girl to the movies! Anyone, you've got your eyes on?"

A pink dress. A red bow.

"Daaaaad!"

"Hahaha! Alright, I'll let you get going! Have fun, kiddo!" He hung up, before walking outside, where Pokey was waiting.

"Alright, you lead, and I'll follow at a safe distance!"

"Of course you will…" Sapphire shook his head and began walking, King at his heels and Pokey a good few feet behind him, out into the Onett hills. Almost immediately, the hairs on his neck stood up.

Danger.

He looked around, trying to see what was different. Visibly, not much. But in the air, subtle energy was flowing. It felt… wrong. Dark. He didn't like it. "Hey, Sapphire, do you feel that too?" Sapphire absentmindedly nodded, feeling goosebumps form. He lifted up his bat, having forgotten to put it away, but now glad that he hadn't.

They exited his yard, walking towards the hill that the meteorite landed at. His heart was hammering in his chest. His breathing was accelerating. What the heck was going on?!

Danger.

Sapphire dove backward, tackling Pokey. "MOVE!" Where he just stood, a medium-sized brown dog landed, biting down on air. Its fur was a dirty brown, sticking up here and there as if it hadn't been brushed in days. Its eyes seemed to glow and pierced his heart, while its snarling mouth drooled something. Did it have rabies or something?!

It let out a piercing howl before it charged at him again. Before Sapphire could attempt to do anything, King shot forward and tackled the rabid dog. They flailed around on the ground, trying and failing to bite each other, until they were standing again, King between them and the dog, both of them letting out vicious snarls.

"Pokey, I need-" he looked back for Pokey, but couldn't spot him. "Dang it Pokey."

The dog shot forward again and attacked, scratching at King. Seeing his dog in trouble, Sapphire charged forward and reared back, smashing his bat against the dog's head. The dog flew back, tumbling over itself before it hit a tree. Sapphire readied his bat, but when it didn't get up, he lowered it. "Uh, doggy?"

Pokey, who had reappeared when he saw he wasn't in danger anymore, gasped. "I think you killed it!"

"W-What?! I didn't mean to k-kill it!" He ran over and got down on his knees, pressing his ear against it. Sure enough, no heartbeat. He gasped, feeling a nauseous feeling in his stomach. "I… I just killed something… oh god, I think I'm going to be sick…"

Pokey, not sure what to do, just stood there. When Sapphire finished dry heaving, he shakily got up, before stepping back in shock as the dog gave off a brief light, before going back to normal. "Sapphire, What was that?!"

"You think I have any idea what that was?!"

"S-Sapphire, quiet down!"

"Quiet down?! I just killed something! I-" he cut himself off when he saw Pokey back up from something slowly. He looked up, and in the tree branch above him was a crow. But not a regular crow. It had a humanoid and malicious grin on its face, while dark energy crackled around its fur. Right near its eyes was where it was concentrated the most, meaning it almost looked like the crow was wearing sunglasses.

Sapphire froze, before slowly crawling backward, making sure not to do any sudden movements. "Pokey. Have you ever seen any crow like that?"

Pokey slowly shook his head, luckily picking up on the need to talk slowly as to not startle the thing. "N-no."

"Okay. So it's not just me then." As they backed away, Pokey didn't watch where he was going and stepped on a branch. They both froze when the sharp crack rang out, but it was too late, the crow launched itself at them cawing in a way that almost seemed like laughter.

Sapphire instinctively brought his bat around to smash it out of the air. But it nimbly dodged him and began clawing at his eyes. "AH! POKEY! HELP!"

Pokey, not sure what to do, ran again. Sapphire would have made some kind of rude gesture if he wasn't busy with the malicious crow. "GET! OFF!" He brought his bat around and finally was able to get a hit on the thing. It slammed into the ground, probably breaking every bone in its body.

Sapphire gasped in pain as he hunched over, holding a hand to his eyes. Luckily, his eyeballs weren't damaged at all. It was just the areas around his eyes that were scratched and- was that blood? Sapphire gagged, hating the sight of blood.

More cawing made him straighten up, and he turned to see the crow picking itself up. "How is that thing still alive?!" It began fluttering again before King jumped up and snatched it midair. He tossed his head from side to side, grinding his teeth into its body, before tossing it onto the ground.

It hit the dirt, but this time the dark energy around it vanished with a similar flare of light that the dog gave off when dying. The human-like grin seemed to turn back into a regular beak, and the energy around its eyes vanished. "What are these things?"

Sapphire twitched as he heard Pokey ask that, before reigning himself in. He'd already killed a dog, helped kill a crow, but he was not killing Pokey Minch. "No idea."

"We should get back to the house! Wait until morning!"

"Are you crazy? Picky is still out here! We have to find him, or do you not care about your brother?!" Pokey looked nervous and began wringing his hands. "Whatever. I'm going to find your brother, you just go home then."

He began walking towards the meteorite hill, not waiting for Pokey to make up his mind. A few seconds afterward, quick footsteps began following him, and Sapphire sighed. Looks like he wouldn't be getting rid of him as fast as he wanted.

Sudden howls caused them to spin around, and they could see several dogs running after them. Before Sapphire could say anything, Pokey was already running. He rolled his eyes before following.

As they ran up the hills of the northern Onett area, Sapphire could hear the barks of the rabid dogs closing in. He looked over his shoulder and saw one of them jump at him, causing him to slam it out of the air with his bat. It landed hard, before shaking its head and continuing to run after them.

How tough were these things? You'd think most things would stop moving after taking a baseball bat to the skull, but they just kept coming! Before the dog could attack again, King spun around and jumped at it, protecting his master. "King, wait!"

Almost immediately he was swarmed by the rest of the dogs and quickly outnumbered. Sapphire yelled and charged in, he swung his bat at a dog in an upward aiming arc, slamming it back and up into the air. He turned and _smashed_ another dog, tossing it away.

Danger.

He felt tingles along his spine, but before he could turn around, the first dog he had attacked tackled him, knocking him to the ground. It snarled and bit down, sinking its fangs into his shoulder. "Gah!" He grabbed its jaws in his hands, attempting to push it away before King tackled it off him. He lifted his hand to his shoulder, feeling punctures where the dog's fangs dug in.

He grit his teeth and fought through the pain, picking up his bat and slamming it into the dog on top of King. The dog yelped, but before it could get up he brought his bat down again, killing it. He gasped for breath, sinking to his knees. The knowledge that he had killed something was just as sickening, but at least he wasn't feeling like throwing up again.

He lifted a hand to his shoulder, feeling warm blood pool against his palm. He squeezed his eyes closed and wished that he knew some kind of first aid, before a warming feeling flowed over him, as well as a wave of dizziness. When he stopped pressing his hand against his shoulder to hold his head, both feelings stopped.

He looked at his shoulder in confusion, only to see that the puncture wounds were gone. He brushed his hand along his shoulder to clear the blood and see if he was just mistaken, but sure enough, the holes were gone. He lifted his hand up to look at it, and he could see a small glow coming from it, similar to the ones that came off of the animals he killed.

An idea came to him, and he pressed his hand against his eyes and waited a moment. Sure enough, a mixture of warmth and dizziness washed over him, and he couldn't feel any more cuts. His hand then stopped glowing, but before he could start wondering, he felt a tug at his bag. He looked back, and one of the crows cawed in his face as it flew away with Tracey's cookie.

"Hey! Give that back!" He brought his bat around to hit it and barely missed. It laughed and began eating his cookie, causing him to growl and jump up, swinging his bat and barely reaching it. It flew out of the air and slammed into a tree, where he brought his bat around to mash it against the bark. The crow let off a weak caw, before falling down, the energy vanishing as it flowed for a moment.

He reached down and grabbed the cookie, putting it back in his bag. A bark drew his attention to King, who was fighting off several crows. "King!" He ran over and leaped up, bringing his bat down clumsily on a crow with a yell. The crow tumbled away and began swinging wildly, trying to shoo all the crows away from King. When he had a clear path out from the storm of black feathers, Sapphire grabbed his collar and dragged him out, before running.

There were way too many crows, and they wouldn't be able to take them all. Their only option was to pull a Pokey and run. They quickly ascended the hill, and Sapphire perked up when he saw Lier X. Agerate's house in the distance. Sapphire hoped that the man wouldn't mind any visitors, and shoulder rushed the door, slamming it open. He stumbled inside and held the door open just long enough for King to get inside before he slammed it in the crows faces.

He breathed heavily, letting himself rest his back against the door before he slid down until he landed on his butt. "Oh hey, Sapphire! I see you survived!"

Sapphire breathed out slowly, before opening his eyes. "Pokey. I see you learned how to sprint." He shifted his head to the side to see Mr. Agerate and nodded. "Sorry for barging in like this, Sir, but, well, some weird stuff is going on outside."

"Yes, Pokey told me about the animals going crazy. Well, you can stay here for a little while, just be careful when you go back out." Sapphire nodded in thanks, and Mr. Agerate turned around, before seeming to think of something and turning back to him. "By the way, Sapphire, I have something secret to show you. 'Cause we're buddies like that, right? Anyway, come by later and I'll show it to you."

Sapphire felt a bit creeped out, but nodded. He owed the man for letting them stay in his house while the crows outside dispersed, so he might as well. He would take King of course and his bat. He wasn't stupid. Hopefully, he wouldn't need either, but better safe than sorry.

Sapphire stood up and looked out the window, not seeing any more crows. "Alright, looks clear. Come on Pokey. Thanks for letting us stay here, Mr. Agerate." He nodded at him and Pokey hurried over as Sapphire opened the door and exited.

Sapphire wrapped his fingers around the leather on his bat's handle, looking around as they walked up the Hill. As they walked they were much more cautious, turning corners slowly, and keeping watch for any more crazy animals. Once or twice a couple of crows would fly overhead, but they ducked underneath nearby trees whenever that happened, hiding.

Eventually, they reached the barricades that the cops had left behind, and squeezed between them. They rounded the last curve onto the plateau, and Sapphire gasped as he saw the glowing light of the meteorite. It was glowing, similarly to the animals and his hand, but much more calmly. Serenely. There was no sound, the crows' and dog's howls and caws somehow silenced from the little plateau of calmness. The only sound was the gentle woosh of the wind.

"Picky?!" Pokey walked forward ignoring the meteor, and when Sapphire went to follow, stopped as King began growling. He turned to see what was wrong and only saw that he had his fur standing on end before he ran. Sapphire made to go after him, but he was too fast, and already out of sight.

"Wonder what spooked him?" He turned and began walking after Pokey. He stopped when he neared the meteorite, looking down at it. It was odd, the grass nearby wasn't dead or burned, and the impact crater looked as though it had smashed straight down. He supposed it wasn't impossible for a meteor to crash like that but it was probably much more common that they crashed at angles.

"Picky! There you are!" Sapphire shook his head and walked away from the meteorite, approaching Pokey. He was standing behind a couple small trees, and when he rounded them he saw Picky sitting against them.

When Picky saw Sapphire, he waved calmly. "Hey, Sapphire. Thanks for finding Pokey for me."

"Finding Pokey?" He turned to Pokey. "I thought you said he wandered off?"

Before Pokey could get a word in edgewise, Picky shook his head. "No, Pokey got scared and ran away. I tried to find him, but got tired and fell asleep."

Sapphire leveled a deadpan glare against Pokey, who was shaking his head and mouthing 'he's lying!' "Damn it Pokey."

Picky stood up and brushed off his clothes. "Well, let's get going home the Pokey. I bet Mom and Dad are worried."

"Oh no! We'll be in trouble!"

Sapphire shook his head. "Whatever. Let's get you home." Sapphire ruffled Picky's bowl-cut and began leading them away as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

They passed by the meteorite again and Sapphire felt a faint feeling in his head, but he shook it off and continued walking. Or, he would have, if Pokey hadn't grabbed his shoulder. "What now?"

"Do you hear a faint buzzing noise? Like a bee?"

"Pokey, if you're afraid of bees after being attacked by rabid dogs and malicious crows, there is seriously something wrong with you."

"So you can hear it!"

"Oh my god, I just want to beat your face in…" Sapphire whispered to himself before he sighed and turned in a circle. "Alright, any bees around here come out and show yourself! I've got a baseball bat with your name on it!"

Nothing happened. Sapphire turned back to Pokey and let the bat rest against his shoulder. "See? Nothing. Now, let's-"

A sudden golden beam of light shot out of the meteorite, and Sapphire shut up. Out of the ball of fire and rock, a small insect rose up. Though it wasn't really a bee, it looked more like a large beetle. Either way, insects surrounded by golden light weren't a thing that usually happened. Sapphire readied his bat, ready to knock the thing out of the sky.

"A bee… I am not." Oh great, and now it was talking. With an electronic voice, to boot. A cyborg beetle? That was a new one."I am from ten years in the future. And in this future… the earth is doomed." And now doomsday prophecies! Well, it was no weirder than evil crows or glowing healing hands! Might as well listen to the possible creation of a fever dream.

"Giygas, the universal cosmic destroyer, sent everyone to the horror of eternal darkness." As Sapphire raised an eyebrow, he looked over to see Pokey covering his eyes and cowering and Picky eating it all up. Giygas? Yeah, real scary, buddy. What kind of name was

"I…t… h…u…r…t…s, S…a…p…p…h…i…r…e…"

Giygas? "However, you must listen! Where I am from, there is a well-known legend, that has been handed down since ancient times! It goes, when the Chosen Boy reaches the point, he will find the light. The passing of time shall shatter the nightmare rock, and will reveal the path of light." Sapphire snorted. Well, that was a real helpful prophecy.

"You see, it is my opinion that you are that boy, Sapphire. This, I believe…" Sapphire raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"I've never done anything special in my life. How could I be the 'chosen boy' or whatever?"

"Are you truly average, Sapphire? I already sense it, within the first hour of his invasion, you have grown stronger. You already realized the power of

PSI Lifeup α

PSI Lifeup." Sapphire stumbled back as the bugs words were said the same time they popped into his head. Lifeup. It wasn't even familiar, it was beyond that. It felt like it had existed within him all his life.

The bug turned, looking out towards southern Onett. "Giygas' monstrous plan must have been set in motion somewhere on Earth…" he turned back towards him. "If you set out now, to counter his plan, you may be able to stop his evil intentions. There are three things that will be of the utmost importance to you. Wisdom. Courage. And friendship."

"Friendship?"

"The legends tell of three boys and a girl who defeat Giygas. I can tell you more later, for now, we should get somewhere safe. Let us go! You have much work to do, Sapphire." He nodded, acknowledging his words. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knew the words were true, no matter how much the rest of his mind rebelled.

Sapphire began walking absentmindedly, thinking about the bug's words. Pokey came up behind him, sweating nervously. "You're in a lot of trouble this time Sapphire! And three boys…? I hope I'm not one of them, this thing really isn't for me!" He gripped his chest through his shirt, his sweating almost seeming to intensify. "Oh wow, my heart feels like it's pounding out of my chest!

Sapphire sighed and ignored him, pretty certain that Pokey would not be one of the boys. They descended the hills, and surprisingly there weren't as many dogs or crows anymore. There were still a few here and there, but they were far away and didn't attack, which gave Sapphire time to think. He was some kind of chosen boy, for some weird prophecy? So weird! But…

He held his hand out and focused, trying to call forward the energy from before. When nothing happened he lowered his hand, thinking about what the bug had called his power. PSI Lifeup. Sapphire almost assumed that the power would activate when he thought its name, but nothing happened. He held his hand up again and looked at it.

Whatever it was, it seemed pretty weak, for now at least. It healed his cuts and small punctures, but it probably couldn't do much more than that. It was like… Like the alpha version of a video game. Yeah. PSI Lifeup α. At that thought, his hand glowed again. He looked at it in shock, before shaking his head and shutting it off. That confirmed it, he supposed. He was magical.

As they reached the bottom of the hill, they began walking towards Pokey's house, before a bright flash of light cut them off. Sapphire held a hand up to his face. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a strange creature kneeling on its knees in front of them, before it stood up straight.

It looked like a man in a pure silver space suit, with a similar energy to the crows flashing around its body, with a black visor for it to see out of. It had several symbols on its left breast, and its hands weren't really hands, as its arms turned into tentacles at the ends. The energy in the air was more intense than ever, and the feeling of danger was at its strongest.

"Buzz Buzz… we meet again…" the voice… was actually pretty normal. But that wasn't what Sapphire focused on.

"Hold up, your name is Buzz Buzz?" He looked up at the fly circling his head, with a raised eyebrow.

"That is not important," Buzz Buzz stated. "What stands before us is a servant of Giygas."

"What even is it?"

"Serving under Giygas are many creatures, and as his hold over Earth strengthens, more animals, creatures, and people will join him. This creature is known as a Starman, with the rank of Junior."

Sapphire stared at the Starman Junior, before nodding his head. "Alright, how tough are they?"

"It may be labeled as 'Junior,' but the Starmen are in the upper echelons of Giygas' army. Stay behind me."

The Starman, apparently tired of waiting for them to stop conversing, spoke up again. "You've been successful at foiling Master Giygas' plans. I will not accept your surrender, you are just a useless insect! You will now be stomped like one!"

It flung its tentacle arm forward, and Sapphire's instincts flared, all while Pokey tried to hide behind him, and Picky stared in awe.

DANGER!

The tentacle flared bright red and spawned a rolling wall of flames. Sapphire stared at in horror. There was no way they could dodge that, and he was pretty sure that Lifeup α wouldn't help against that! "We're all gonna die!" Pokey sobbed, and Sapphire grimaced as he felt his tears and snot stain his shirt. Fitting. His last moments alive, and he was being annoyed by Pokey.

Before it could reach them, Buzz Buzz flew forwards and glowed brightly. "PSI Shield Σ!" There was another flash of light, and in front of them appeared shields of pure energy. Sapphire flinched as the flames slammed into them, but instead of being cooked alive, the flames were completely halted by the shields, flowing around them.

Sapphire looked on in awe as they were surrounded by a sea fire, before it halted, revealing the Starman Junior still standing there. Sapphire grinned and readied his bat, just as the Starman Junior attacked!


	2. Chapter 2: Reaching Onett

Chapter Two: Reaching Onett

Sapphire yelled and slammed his bat against the Starman Junior, only to jump back as the Starman tried to throw him back with its tentacle arm. Wait- no it hadn't even noticed him! It was just examining its arm and wondering why its fire hadn't hit them!

Sapphire shot forward and swung again, gritting his teeth as his arms shook. The Starman's metallic body rung hollow as he slammed his bat into it, and it just blankly turned to him, staring with its dark visor. Suddenly Picky ran up and tried punching it with his small fists. The Starman turned to him and tried to smack him, only for Sapphire to jump in the way and tackle Picky to safety.

As they rolled away, Sapphire checked him over for injuries, before nodding when he saw none. When he turned around he saw Buzz Buzz slam into the Starman and watched as the metallic enemy actually _grunted_ from being hit by the tiny bug. The Starman growled and lifted its arm, the tip of it glowing a pale blue instead of silver or red, and a blast of air so cold was shot out of it that Sapphire could feel it from several feet away.

Buzz Buzz's shield protected him, and he shot forward again, cracking the alien's visor. The Starman stumbled back and tried to whack Buzz Buzz out of the air, before Sapphire yelled and attacked from behind, bringing his bat down on the Starman's head. The Starman leaned forward for a moment, giving Sapphire hope that he'd actually done some damage before it shot around and slammed its tentacle into his stomach and threw him back.

He tumbled over himself, before slamming into a tree. He gasped as he felt pain shoot through him, and gripped his stomach. Something was definitely broken, or at the very least cracked. "P-PSI Lifeup α!" Light shone from his palms, and he pressed them on his stomach, feeling warmth spread. He stood up and shook himself off, before looking down at his bat. The crack in it was slightly larger than before from hitting such a durable enemy.

Sapphire frowned and watched the Starman, waiting for an opening. When it was angrily trying to throw another wave of flames at Buzz Buzz, Sapphire ran forward and slammed his bat onto the Starman's side. It stumbled slightly, most likely tired from getting beat up by Buzz Buzz, (which Sapphire still couldn't believe), and allowing Sapphire to jump back before it could hit him again, yelling "You will fall, fools!"

Sapphire could see Picky waving his hands and murmuring something about spells and shook his head, flexing his fingers around his cracked bat as he waited for an opening. In the background, Pokey was being as useless as ever and crying about how he was going to die or something.

Starman Junior stumbled back as Buzz Buzz slammed into them, their metallic armor cracking. Sapphire yelled and slammed his bat against the Junior's legs, nearly tripping it, before Buzz Buzz slammed into it one final time and throwing it onto its back. Sapphire backed away, holding up his bat just in case, before sighing as the dark energy around the Starman vanished. He leaned down to look closer at the metallic enemy and grimaced at the black liquid leaking out of the holes and cracks in its armor. "Gross."

Buzz Buzz… buzzed around his head, "Well done Sapphire, I knew that you were the Chosen Boy!"

"I didn't do much, you were the one doing most of the damage."

"You are just starting out. Eventually, you will be able to stand against the Starman easily." Buzz Buzz paused. "But the Junior came from ten years in the future, just as I did, to kill me. We cannot rest yet!"

"How many more like them are there?" Picky asked.

"Many. And as I said before, Giygas' influence will corrupt humans who have evil thoughts, as well as animals."

"Come on, that's crazy! Impossible!" Pokey was wringing his hands nervously, but Sapphire ignored him.

Buzz Buzz, however, just shook his tiny head. "It is the truth!" He turned to Sapphire. "From now on, enemies sent by Giygas will be interrupting your adventure and making trouble, you must be ready."

Sapphire sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair. "For now let's get Pokey and Picky back home. We can talk more about this in the morning."

They began walking back to their house, Sapphire and Buzz Buzz looking out for any crows or dogs. They neared the Minch household, next to their own and slightly larger as well. Sapphire inclined his head towards the house, "All right, we found Picky and brought you both home. Now I've got to get going, apparently, I've got some adventure coming up…" Sapphire shook his head.

"W-wait! Can you come inside with us? I don't think it won't be as bad if you're there as well!"

"Please?" Picky asked when it looked like Sapphire was going to decline.

Sapphire looked down at Picky before sighing and ruffling Picky's hair. "Yeah, sure. Why not." Pokey grinned and nodded, heading for the door.

The first thing they found inside was Pokey and Picky's mother, stomping back and forth. She was wearing a red nightgown, a bit too small for her large frame. When she heard the door open she turned, rage clearly visible on her face, but she didn't say anything, and it was quiet enough that the sound of Buzz Buzz's wings fluttering was extremely loud.

When the two boys in front of Sapphire began fidgeting and looked like they would begin stammering our excuses, their mother suddenly roared, "And where in Sam hill have you boys been?!"

Pokey tried to calm her down but really couldn't get much out. "B-b-b-but Mom, we can explain-"

"I'll have to think of a suitable punishment! For now, go talk to your father!" She then turned to Sapphire, and her anger vanished into a tight smile. "I'm so sorry that my boys troubled you so much."

Sapphire winced and rubbed the back of his head. He really didn't like their parents. The mother caked on so much makeup that she looked like a clown and only hid her disdain for his family when they were around, and the father had some serious anger issues. He felt bad for Picky, and honestly, Pokey as well. "It's fine ma'am. It's not really their fault…"

The sudden sound of thunderous footsteps drew Sapphire's eyes, and he saw the boys' father drag them upstairs. A few moments later, and the sound of Pokey crying out in pain as well as Picky confirmed what Sapphire thought was about to happen. He clenched his fists and his teeth, trying to stop himself from saying anything, although it was especially hard when their mother had a satisfied smile on her face.

Instead, he transferred his anger to his bat, hearing the leather on the handle give out a pathetic creak from his grip. "Well," he spat, "I'll just be going now." But before he could turn and exit the house, Buzz Buzz flew just a bit too close to the makeup caked woman.

Hearing the buzzing and seeing the beetle-like bug so close to her, she screeched and swat Buzz Buzz out of the air. "A dung beetle!"

"Wait!" However, it was too late. Buzz Buzz slammed into the ground, and the mother ran into the kitchen, probably to wash her hands. Sapphire ran forwards and knelt down, dropping his bat to cup Buzz Buzz in his hands. "Buzz Buzz! Come on, you can't die here! You helped us defeat Starman, and you still have to help me on my journey!"

A groan came from the fly prophet, and Sapphire felt his wings give a weak flutter. Honestly, kind of gross, but he was dying so he wouldn't just drop the guy. He attempted to speak, but more groans just came out.

"Save your strength! I-I can heal you!"

"N-no. I can feel myself fading. Please, you must listen to my final words." Sapphire bit his lip before nodding. "To have the power to defeat Giygas, your own psychic power must unite with the earth's… the earth will then channel your power and multiply it… there are eight of these locations, eight… sanctuaries. The first is near Onett, named Giant's Step. You must go there first, understand?"

"I… I understand Buzz Buzz. I promise I'll reach all of the locations! I won't let you down!" Even though he'd only known the big for less than thirty minutes, he felt a deep pang of sadness from watching him die.

"All right… I believe you…" he let off a weak chuckle mixed with a cough. "But remember, you will not be alone… you will have- Oh! The pain! It's all going dark," he gasped for a moment, "before I pass, I must give you something… It is called the Sound Stone. You can record the eight melodies from all of Your Sanctuaries into this stone. It is an incredible item." His tiny head moved, looking out the window. "It is already dawn… but it matters not to me… I'm fading fast."

"Goodbye Buzz Buzz. I promise, your sacrifice won't be in vain…" he gave one last smile before he closed his eyes. His wings gave one final flutter, then stopped. Before Sapphire could process the death, his body glowed momentarily, and a small orb rose from him. Sapphire slowly reached forward with his free hand and grasped it, before turning over his hand to look at it.

It was a perfectly smooth stone, dark in color, with eight small notches on one side. It was cool in his hand, and just holding it made his soul feel lighter, calmer. Sapphire breathed in, before slowly letting out the breath. He put the Sound Stone in his pocket, before grabbing his bat and exiting the Minch household. He approached his house as the rays of dawn lit up the sky, and searched for a place to bury Buzz Buzz.

He eventually found several stones that were about as smooth as the Sound Stone, though not as perfectly round. He then found a small flower poking out of the ground, and dug out a hole in front of it, laying Buzz Buzz inside. He then filled in the hole and smoothed it over, laying the stones around the hole to mark it. He almost thought about saying a few words, but since he didn't know much about the bug he instead bowed his head for a moment of silence.

After a sufficient amount of time had passed, Sapphire walked into his house. King was asleep in his usual spot, but Sapphire couldn't bring himself to be mad at the dog for running when he did. Sure, they might have beaten the Starman a bit quicker, but then again, King could have been heavily injured. So Sapphire just rubbed his head and walked past. His mother was in the kitchen and turned when she heard him. "Sapphire, you're back!"

He smiled. "Hey, mom." He slumped down into a chair by the table in the dining room, dropping his bag and bat on the ground, and let his head rest on the cool tabletop. "Ugghh…"

"Long night?"

"You could say that…" he looked up at the clink of clink of glass and saw his mother place down a bowl of cereal in front of him. "Thanks, Mom."

"So, what happened?"

Sapphire paused, thinking. "Well, you saw the news about the meteorite, right?"

"Of course."

"Well…" Sapphire thought about what to say, before giving up. "Ugh, it sounds insane."

His mother looked at him for a moment, before nodding. "By the way, did any strange animals attack you on the way back?" Sapphire stammered for a moment. "Because I saw on the news that animals have been acting strangely all over the country."

Sapphire thought for a moment. "So… yes, some animals attacked me, because… I… kind of have to go on an adventure."

"An adventure?"

"Yeah, I… well, I know what's causing animals to act strangely, and I have to go out and stop it."

"Okay."

Sapphire looked at her incredulously. "What?"

"I said I'm okay with it."

"I'll be gone for… I don't know how long. And I could be in serious danger. And I could be lying to get out of school!"

His mother smiled. "I trust you, Sapphire. That look on your face… you aren't lying, you're telling the truth. And I believe in you. You'll do fine."

He grinned back. "Thanks, Mom. Tell Tracey I love her when she wakes up, yeah?" His mother nodded, and Sapphire got up. He grabbed his stuff and walked towards the door, stopping to pet King on the way. He walked out the door and breathed in deeply, wondering if this was what everyone felt like when they began their adventure.

He hadn't taken three steps before someone had appeared before him. The man wore a black tuxedo and top hat, with blond hair and a beard. The man grinned and held up a camera. "Hey there, I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself!"

"Wha-"

"Okay get ready for an instant memory! Look at the camera…"

"Who are-"

"Ready…"

"No seriously-"

"Say, 'fuzzy pickles!'" On pure instinct, Sapphire made a peace sign with his fingers, a weak grin on his face. There was a flash, and when Sapphire was done blinking the spots out of his eyes, he looked around for the mysterious cameraman, only to see that he was nowhere to be found.

Sapphire shook his head, assuming the man to just be a figment of his imagination, and turned to see the town of Onett in the distance. He grinned and took the first step of his adventure.

* * *

Then again, he hadn't technically started yet.

Sapphire twirled his bat as he walked up the slope of the hill towards Mr. Agerate's house. Before he could do anything, he had to go see Mr. Agerate. After all, he did owe him and did promise to come back and see whatever secret the guy had for him.

On his way up the hill, he both kept an eye out for any dogs and crows, while also thinking about his destiny, or whatever. Save the world? Even if in the back of his mind he knew it to be true, it still sounded insane! He was just a teenage boy, (barely, thirteen was still pretty much a child), and he spent his time playing baseball and playing video games! Heck, the only special thing he could do was some magic healing, and even that was very new!

Danger.

Sapphire sighed as a dog bound up, trying to bite him, before he wound up, and _smashed_ the dog across the face. It's momentum combined with his powerful swing meant the dog was instantly downed, tumbling end over end. Sapphire still felt bad about killing the things, but knowing that they were being filled with evil at least made him feel a bit less guilty.

He felt his muscles coil a bit, before loosening. And that was another thing. Whenever he killed one of the dogs or crows, and then they glowed, at the same time he felt a little stronger. Faster, tougher too. Maybe it was something to do with killing creatures influenced by Giygas?

Either way, it was definitely faster than working out, or at least he guessed it was. He'd never worked out, after all. Sapphire hurried his pace when he spotted Lier's house and made sure to knock loudly on the door. Didn't want to startle a guy as jumpy as Mister Agerate by barging in. "Mister Agerate?" He called. "It's me, Sapphire." He paused. "Uh, alone."

"Sapphire! Come in, come in!" Sapphire turned the door handle and entered. He subsequently felt his jaw drop. The night before he hadn't been paying attention because of the crazy crows and dogs, but now that he looked, Lier's house was a _mess_. There was dirt everywhere, a bed and dresser in the corners, both covered in mud and the bed having its springs out and visible.

What really caught his eye was the gigantic hole in the center of the house. Lier's head poked out of the hole, a grin on his muddy face. He had some serious bags under his eyes, and his five o' clock shadow was heavily pronounced. "Sapphire!" He scrambled out of the hole, brushing mud and earth off of his clothes.

"Heeeeyyyy…" Sapphire stepped back. "You… have a hole in your house."

Lier licked his lips nervously, before spitting out some dirt that got into his mouth. "So, I'm doing this because I trust you."

"Doing what, exactly?"

"First, we need to go into the basement!"

"Nope. Nope nope nope." Sapphire made an X with his hands and stepped back again. "Several red flags are being set off here."

"Ha, I guess so. Don't worry, you can trust me on this." He jumped down, grabbing onto a rope to rappel down. Sapphire watched him go, before shaking his head.

"Yeah, how many ads on tv have told me not to do this…" Sapphire holstered his bat between his backpack strap and his back, before climbing down the rope. "If he tries anything, he's taking a bat to the face."

When he reached the bottom he looked up, his eyes widening when he saw how far down they were. That was going to be a pain and a half to climb back up. He turned around and saw an extremely long tunnel, a pickaxe, shovel, and wheelbarrow to the side with Lier standing in front of it. "How… long is that thing?"

He just grinned and motioned for him to follow, before running down the tunnel. Sapphire yelped and ran after him. "Hey- wait up!" As much as going alone into an underground tunnel with Lier was bad, leaving him to run ahead alone could be much worse. He twisted to hop along awkwardly to grab his bat from his bag, turning back so he could continue running.

He ran through several small rooms until he finally caught up with Lier. Luckily, he wasn't setting up some nefarious trap or whatever, just standing there, a bright white grin contrasting with his dirty appearance. "So, Sapphire… I've found proof of a great treasure, a huge haul!"

"Treasure? How long have you been digging here?"

"Ever since you were a child!"

"Wha- thirteen years? Near fourteen?!" His grin widened.

"Heh, yeah! And I'll show you what I got from it!" He turned and walked around the corner, and Sapphire quickly followed. The room they entered was a small chamber, but it was much brighter than any of the small rooms they'd traveled through previously, however it wasn't from any lanterns, it was from the statue in the very back of the chamber.

It was odd since it didn't seem to give off any light of its own, but it still lit up the interior of the chamber with a deep golden light. It was… contradictory yes, but there was no other way to describe it. A seven to eight-foot statue, with large demonic horns jutting from its head. A demon statue?

"Dang, this thing must be worth a fortune…" Sapphire slowly approached it as he whispered to himself, observing it.

"If this is a sign of what's to come, then I just need a bit more time!"

"More time?! This thing is probably worth all of Onett combined!" That was probably an exaggeration, but still! With how much it was probably worth, he bet that he could give him a just a small percentage and he would still be rich!

Or… maybe more? They could split it half-and-half! Maybe a bit more though? Lier would still get quite a bit if they split it more towards Sapphire… or maybe he should have all of it! He did risk being hurt just to follow the guy down into his basement!

"No! I have to find and dig up the rest!"

"If you keep doing this you could kill yourself, or get very injured. Why not let some other people help?"

"Don't worry, I can handle it on my own." Sapphire approached the statue, entranced, barely registering Lier's words. The statue was seemingly luring him in, its… shining beauty… he reached out, his fingers brushing the gold…

He was shoved to the side, Lier suddenly in his face. "Get lost, you're in the way of my work!"

Sapphire growled and gripped his bat tightly. Lier was just keeping it to himself! And he had just roughly pushed him! Him! He… he had a bat though… Lier wasn't even facing him! He could… he could just…

No… no no, he wouldn't-

Gold and darkness mixed together

Blue coating everything, lightning crackling against his skin

Darkness, a twisted reality different and the same

Vibrant colors, in a realm of dreams, within a vast sea of chaos

Sapphire stumbled against the cavern wall, clutching his head. What happened? It felt like a dream… he looked up to see Lier staring at the Ma- his head throbbed again and he looked down. He shook himself off, and stumbled his way out of the cavern, walking through the tunnels until he reached the rope leading aboveground.

The climb up was slightly nauseating with the throbbing in his head and the swinging of the rope. Eventually, though, he reached the top and quickly exited Lier's house. "Not going back down there," he muttered to himself. "What the heck was that statue though?"

The closer he got to the thing, the more his mind… well, it was still his own, but it got more clouded, his thoughts odd. Greedy.

He shook his head, working his way down the hills towards the town of Onett. There was no point in thinking about it much anymore. He was far away from that house. Maybe he should go back later, and destroy the thing. If it could affect emotions like that, it could be pretty bad.

Danger.

Sapphire sighed and turned, bringing his bat up as a rabid dog ran up towards him. The dog leaped at him and he brought his bat down, slamming it into the ground. The dog struggled for a moment, trying to bite at him until Sapphire let go for just long enough to wind up as if playing golf and slam the bat into the side of the dog's head.

The dog quickly went still, and Sapphire felt another rush of energy as the corrupted animal glowed, and died. However this time, there a was an extra rush, and deep within his mind, he heard something similar to a latch unlocking, echoing over and over again. Sapphire lifted a hand to his head and shook it, stumbling slightly. "Okay… that was odd."

He resumed walking, slowly at first to make sure he wouldn't fall over, before resuming normal speed. He examined his body, seeing nothing really new anywhere, and wondering what that was. "So, I have psychic power or whatever… so that means it has to do with my brain or something. So what does something in my head unlocking mean?"

He looked at his hand and clenched it. He could heal himself, and presumably other people, and he felt strong and fast, but not incredibly so. What other abilities could he get? He'd seen cool psychics on shows and games, but he didn't know how many of those were actually possible with psychic powers.

First, before he could worry about superpowers, he needed a map. He'd never traveled outside of Onett in his life, and in school, he'd only seen pictures of various other places in Eagleland. Besides that, he needed to find Giant's Step. He, of course, knew it was in Onett, or at least slightly outside of it, but he wasn't sure where. And such a landmark would definitely be on a map.

Luckily, Sapphire noted as he neared the town, the library was the very first building one would encounter when on their way into town from his house. And if anyplace was to have a map, it would be a library. The building was squat, wider than it was tall, with only two stories, cream colored with brown wood doors.

Sapphire pushed said doors open and was greeted with a combination of air-conditioning and the smell of books. Sapphire would admit, while he did like comic books, he wasn't much a fan of actual books so he'd never actually entered the library that often. Maybe once every few weeks, if there was some new fantasy book out that looked interesting.

Sapphire approached the librarian, a pretty looking blonde woman who sat behind the main counter. "Excuse me, miss?" He asked in a whisper.

"Hmm?" She looked up, smiling.

"I was wondering, where could I find some maps? It's for, ah, a school project."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about finding any!" She dug around below her desk until she brought up some paper maps. "Kids can borrow maps for free here! No date to return them by!"

"Thank you very much, miss!" He smiled and gathered the maps, looking them over. There seemed to be maps for most major places, Onett, Twoson, Threed, Fourside. What he focused on for now was Onett. The maps looked rather modern, as they had new buildings on them like Onett's arcade and things like that. What drew his eye, however, was the large footprint marking and the words 'Giant's Step.'

"There we go," he muttered to himself. Giant's Step, right outside of the actual town of Onett. That was his first goal. But…

He looked back to see his baseball bat, the large crack in it clearly visible. Would that hold up for much longer? If this Giygas guy was smart, he'd be throwing the largest amount of aliens he had at the Sanctuaries, to make sure there was no way he could reach them. So before he could go towards Giant's Step, he'd have to get a new weapon. Or, bat. After all, no one would be selling an actual weapon to a thirteen-year-old.

As Sapphire made to leave, he paused when he felt a tightness in his stomach. Oh. Maybe he should have gone to the bathroom before he left his house… he began walking quickly towards the second floor of the library, knowing that there were bathrooms from the few times he'd been there before.

However, just when he'd reached the bathrooms on the second floor, some guy in a black suit and bowler hat shoved by and shot into the bathroom. Sapphire watched him go with a slack jaw, before throwing his hands up into the air and turning around. It was a good thing the woods were nearby…

* * *

Sapphire smiled when he saw John standing outside their secret clubhouse as he exited. He'd decided to say goodbye to the gang before he left to follow his destiny or whatever. Most of the gang had been sad when he said that he was leaving for a while, and his friend Charles had even given him his Mr. Baseball Cap sticker, which he stuck onto his hat.

"Hey, John, I'll be seeing you then."

John grinned and nodded. "All right! I'd offer to escort you back to town, but I'm on watch right now!"

Sapphire snickered in response and waved as he walked away. Up ahead was apparently the entrance towards Giant's Step. He decided to check it out since it was in the same general area as the secret clubhouse. Sapphire raised an eyebrow when he saw a rundown shack and a fence blocking the cavern entrance, as well as two guys in clown makeup outside.

"Excuse me, is the passage to Giant's Step through there?"

One of the clown guys shook his head. "Yeah, but it's locked. Some guy trashed the place, so city hall shut it down. Probably one of the Sharks, if you ask me."

Sapphire closed in and looked at the sign on the door, just to make sure. "'Do not enter. Enquire with City Hall if you require entry.' Well, I guess I'm glad I came here before heading into Onett proper…" he turned and began approaching the town. "New goals, get a new bat, figure out some way for city hall to allow me in, reach Giant's Step."

As he entered Onett proper, he was greeted by the sounds of cars and a population sign that read four-thousand. The cars were odd, normally so many people wouldn't be out driving. He then noticed several of the cars were actually the same car, just circling the block over and over again. Something to do with Giygas maybe?

Either way, Onett was too small for a city, but still pretty big. He walked past a burger joint that he would sometimes visit after school with his friends, and instead looked for the drugstore he would get his old baseball bats from. Looked like he would be getting another one now.

He entered the store, a small bell chiming to signal his entrance. The store was pretty small, and he scratched the owner's sleeping dog as he walked past, he knew from the past times he'd went there. He entered the sports aisle and looked around. There were some things that he could see himself using like he was in some kind of weird battle show, Yo-Yos, and slingshots, but this was real life, no matter how many weird powers he got, using a Yo-Yo as a weapon would be downright idiotic. At least he could hit things really hard with a bat.

At that, he began looking for bats he could use to replace his cracked one. There were several wooden ones that looked useful, all in a variety of different colors, but when his eyes landed on a metal one he knew that was what he needed. He picked it up and looked it over. A Tee ball bat, dark in color, and when he gripped it, it felt perfect. He gave it a practice swing, making sure not to accidentally hit anything, before nodding.

He approached the ATM in the store to withdraw… one hundred dollars? Sapphire stared, confused, wondering why his father would give him so much, before shrugging and withdrawing it. He walked towards the counter and gave the bat to the man behind it, who quickly rang it up and held a hand out. "Forty-eight dollars."

Sapphire handed the man the money, before exiting the store with his new bat. He looked at his old cracked one, not sure what to do with it yet, before deciding to just put it inside of his bag for the time being. Sapphire then sat on the curb and thought about what to do next. He could go to city hall and ask about Giant's Step, but they'd probably just kick him out.

Sapphire looked up as some guy in a blue outfit walked by, with bone patterns stitched into the clothing as well as… a glasses pattern stitched into the headpiece? They had a large grin on, and for some reason, a hula-hoop. Sapphire narrowed his eyes, realizing it was one of the Sharks. However, a moment later, an idea came to him and he grinned.

If the sharks were causing so much trouble in town… surely city hall would be pretty grateful if a kid with superpowers were to help them out by getting rid of the ruffians? He got up and gripped his bat tightly, before yelling and running after Yes Man Junior. The Yes Man visibly started and turned, wanting to see what the ruckus was about, and was met with a baseball bat to the head.

The Yes Man fell backward, gripping his head, before grabbing his hula-hoop and trying to swing it at him. It missed, by a large amount, and Sapphire jumped in to bash him on the stitched on ribs. He stumbled backward, trying to throw a punch at him, but Sapphire just jumped aside, letting the guy fall forwards and get tangled in his own hula-hoop. Right as he tried getting up, Sapphire reared up one last time and swung, knocking the Yes Man junior out.

Sapphire watched him for a moment, making sure he wasn't faking, before leaning over and taking the pulse of the Yes Man. He was still alive, and not bleeding, so Sapphire hadn't killed him. Good. Killing animals he still felt a bit guilty about, he wasn't sure he could deal with killing people.

Sapphire turned, knowing exactly where the arcade was from experience. It was time to kick the Sharks out of town.


	3. Chapter 3: Sanctuary

Chapter Three: Sanctuary

Sapphire marched down the street, bat at the ready. In the downtown area of Onett, the Sharks were much more prevalent, unlike the rare one or two you might spot uptown. In the distance, Sapphire could spot the arcade, with several members of the Sharks hanging out outside. However, there were more than just hula-hoop users this time.

One of the Sharks had a skateboard underfoot, rolling it back and forth as they ate a burger, while another had a pogo stick resting on their shoulders. Of course, all of them could be recognized as part of the Sharks, due to the shark fins on their heads. They turned when they heard him approach, and the one with the skateboard grinned menacingly at him, however, Sapphire wasn't very intimidated, considering he wore a dumb looking pilot's helmet.

"Hey hey hey, kid! Careful there, the adults run this place now!" Sapphire scowled at the Skate Punk and tapped his bat against his shoulder.

"I'm not a kid. And I'm here to run you all out of town!"

"Whoa ho ho!" The skater turned to his fellow Sharks. "Hear that, guys!? The kiddo wants to play!" They cackled and stood up, putting away their food and grabbing their battle items. "I suggest you run now kid, and you might have a chance of getting away!" The Skate Punk cackled menacingly, and jumped aboard his skateboard, speeding towards him.

Sapphire took a step back and readied his bat, only to let out a breath of air when the Punk dodged his blow and shoved his fist into his stomach. Sapphire fell back and groaned,

Danger.

before rolling to the side as the Punk tried to ram his skateboard into him, shredding him in the process… would that be what he'd do? Wait… what was that? His body had jolted into action without even knowing that the Punk was about to attack… just like with the dogs and crows, only much more noticeable...

Sapphire shook the thought out of his head and readied his bat as a Pogo Punk charged forward, trying to bash him with their pogo stick. Sapphire ducked aside and instead slammed his own weapon into them, drawing breath from them and throwing them back. He was not prepared, however, when the Skate Punk skated up from behind and slammed him over the head with his board.

Sapphire fell forward clutching his head as tears welled in his eyes. He tried to blink them away and look for his bat but had to shield himself when the Sharks began ganging up on him, jumping on, or slamming him with their weapons. He cried out but focused through the pain to reach into his mind. "PSI Lifeup α!"

The Sharks stumbled back when a ray of light shot out of him, healing him, before he scrambled for his bat and turned, whacking the Skate Punk upside the helmet. He flew back, before collapsing unconscious. Sapphire felt slightly woozy, which he was quickly realizing meant he was most likely draining some kind of energy from himself to use his PSI. For now, however, he had to focus on beating the rest of the Sharks.

One of the Pogo Punks ran- or more like jumped- away, having seen the strangely strong thirteen-year-old boy get up from a beating that should have knocked him unconscious, and whack an older seventeen year old out in a single hit. Another, however, just laughed insanely, running at him and swinging his pogo stick wildly.

Sapphire fell back, stunned by the vicious attack, before swinging back with his bat and making both metallic weapons _ping _off of each other. The Pogo Punk stumbled back, but Sapphire pressed forward and reared back, _smashing _the Pogo Punk so hard that the noise bounced off several buildings, echoing.

Only a single Yes Man remained, and Sapphire slapped his bat against his palm, motioning for them to make their move. Instead, the Yes Man laughed hysterically, pointing at his fallen comrades. Sapphire was stunned at their callousness for a moment, before recalling Buzz Buzz's words. People, as well as animals, could be corrupted by Giygas. Were the members of the Sharks under Giygas' influence? Were they from the very beginning, from the formation of the group? Was that why the Sharks had so suddenly appeared?

There was no way to know for sure, but he would at least take the free hit. While the Yes Man continued to laugh, Sapphire wound up and slammed his bat into them, throwing them onto their back, knocked out. Suddenly, they all glowed slightly, and Sapphire felt the familiar tensing then release sensation. So they were influenced by Giygas…

Sapphire backed up, looking around the street, looking to see if there were any more Sharks still around. Seeing none left, or at least, none still conscious, Sapphire hefted his bat and approached the doors to the arcade, looking up to see the word GAME above the doors. "Ah yes… the GAME arcade. Why would they name it that?" Shaking his head he kicked down the door and readied his bat, as several Sharks looked over. "Where's your boss? I need to file a complaint!"

"You! You're the one that beat up my buddy!" The Pogo Punk charged at him, swinging at him with their Pogo Stick. Sapphire quickly blocked with his bat, wincing as he felt the vibrations spread through his arm, before pushing him away and slamming his bat into them. They flew back and crashed into an arcade cabinet, causing several sparks to fly out, and making Sapphire wince.

"I hope I won't have to pay for that…" He shook his head and continued further into the arcade, spotting another Shark standing in front of an arcade cabinet. He turned when he heard Sapphire approach only to jump back when he saw he wasn't dressed as a Shark.

"You! How did you get in?!" Sapphire grinned and jumped back as the Yes Man tried to swing his Hula-Hoop at him. Obviously, the incredibly short range of the Hula Hoop meant that the attack easily missed, and Sapphire jumped in after the attack to whack the Yes Man upside the head, throwing them back knocked out and giving a quick glow.

These guys were surprisingly easy if you fought them one-on-one! And being indoors like this, none of them could attack as well with their skateboards, hula-hoops, or pogo sticks as he could with his bat! With his confidence raised, he approached another Shark, in fact, the last Shark on the floor, tapping his bat.

This one seemed semi-important, standing in front of a double set of doors and guarding them. He looked up when he approached, somehow not having heard the crashes of Sapphire beating up the other sharks, nor seeing their unconscious forms, and rolled a skateboard back and forth underfoot. "Hey, do you want to become a member?"

Sapphire blinked in surprise, "Ah, sure. I have to meet your boss to become a member, right?"

"Well come back after you finish EarthBound!"

Sapphire blinked. "But… Didn't… what's EarthBound?"

"Don't be such a snob!" The Skate Punk suddenly shot forward, causing Sapphire to fall back in surprise, only for the Skate Punk to slam into a wall. "Ow… Maybe I shouldn't skate indoors…" Sapphire rolled his eyes and brought his bat down on their helmet, knocking them out. Sapphire could hear the sounds of video games from the second floor, but if the boss guy was behind the double doors, then he could just take care of him, and the rest would probably disperse.

Sapphire breathed in, before walking through the doors calmly. He was not expecting, however, to be greeted with the harsh glare of sunlight. Why did these doors open to the outside? Whatever. Sapphire walked forward, out into a grassy field surrounded on all sides by a fence. In the center of the field, some guy was leaning against a tree, a malicious grin on his face.

He was blond, dressed up in a red colored pinstripe suit, with his hair of course gelled into a mohawk to look like a sharks fin. He looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, not an adult yet, but still older than him. He lowered his glasses to look Sapphire over, his grin never fading. "Well hey there. What's a kid like you doing here, messing with the Sharks?"

Sapphire raised his head, readying his bat. "I'm Sapphire, and I'm here to kick you and the Sharks out of Onett!"

The man burst out laughing and raised his glasses again. "Well well, what's a little kid like you doing here playing vigilante?"

Sapphire narrowed his eyes and yelled, charging at the man. He brought his bat down, but the man just dodged to the side, still grinning. He chuckled and stretched. "Well, if you want to play with the Sharks, you'll get hurt! I'm Frank, leader of the Sharks, and I'll show you why nobody messes with us!" He reached into his suit, before pulling his hands back out holding… knives.

Sapphire's throat dried up. Knives? So far, nothing that he'd fought was truly lethal. The dogs and crows could bite and scratch him, but they were dumb animals that couldn't really use strategy. The Sharks so far fought together, or at least smarter than the animals did, but they used stupid and non-lethal weapons that couldn't even really be called weapons on their best day. This Frank guy? He was using actual, _deadly_ weapons against him.

Frank seemed to realize this and his grin turned into a sneer. "What's wrong, I thought you wanted to kick us out of town? You afraid that I'm gonna gut you like a fish?!" Sapphire recoiled at Frank's nasty words and backed up, only for Frank to jump forward and brandish his knives. Sapphire brought his bat up to block one, making a _clang _sound as they reverberated, but the other knife cut into his arm.

Sapphire fell back and held his arm, before scrambling away as Frank's knives impacted where he'd landed moments earlier. He hissed and bit his lip, cradling his arm. "PSI Lifeup α!" A moment later and he felt his wound close, even as he became slightly dizzy. He instinctively moved backward, wanting to make distance so he could recover his bearings.

Sapphire's head cleared and he looked up to see Frank come in swinging, slashing his knives horizontally at him. Sapphire yelped and dove away, grasping around for his bat, only to realize that he had dropped it when Frank cut him. Frank began spitting more words out at him, making him flinch, before scrambling for his bat. He grasped it and turned, swinging as hard as he could just when Frank came into range.

Frank was not expecting such a powerful hit and was immediately thrown off his feet, tumbling. Sapphire watched him for a moment, before letting his hands rest on his knees, breathing hard. Frank was dangerous, and he wasn't sure how much of… whatever kind of energy his psychic powers used, he had left.

Danger.

He dove backward, just as Frank brandished his knives again, just barely missing and instead cutting into his hat. He tried to roll away, but Frank thought ahead and cornered him against the fence wall, and threw one of his knives at him. Sapphire cried out, as when he dodged the knife nicked his arm, drawing more blood.

He held a hand to the wound but didn't heal it. It wasn't that bad, and he couldn't afford to waste his energy. He looked up to see Frank closing in, and held up his bat to block his next attack. He grimaced when his arms vibrated from the hit, before crying out when Frank angled his next attack to carve up part of his hand.

He swung his bat wildly, causing Frank to jump back and dodge, while he held his hand. No fingers lost, no major veins cut, at least he thought no major veins were. "PSI Lifeup α!" The wound slowly closed, but this time the dizziness stayed, and Sapphire cradled his head.

"Well, kid looks like it's over." Sapphire looked up blearily to see Frank approaching, twirling a knife. What? It couldn't be over that quickly… He tried getting up, only for a wave of nausea to roll over him. No…

Frank closed in, his knife raising, and Sapphire watched, unable to do anything. It… couldn't end there, right? He… he hadn't even reached his first sanctuary! No! He had to keep going, keep fighting! What… what had happened earlier that day? That… that sound, the latch in his mind unlocking…

Sapphire focused, digging into his mind. He… had something… but what? It wasn't a deadly attack, it was… calming… soothing… he had it all his life and never realized… he had…

"PSI Hypnosis α!" He threw his hand forward, and out of it came a flash of light. Unlike LIfeup, which glowed beneath his skin, Hypnosis shot out of it, with a flash of pink and blue light, which quickly covered the shocked Frank.

Frank stumbled backward, falling to his knees, as Sapphire forced himself up. He steadied himself on his bat, before stumbling forward, winding up, and _smashing _Frank across the face. He flew back, glasses shattered, and landed hard. Sapphire slowly approached him, seeing that he was still conscious, and leveled his bat at Frank's throat. "I… beat you. Now, leave… Onett… in peace…"

Frank looked at him, shocked, before rage and slight insanity crossed his features. "Fail-proof Frank… can't be beaten!" he reached into his pocket, and before Sapphire could stop him, brought out a remote. He quickly pressed down on it, and shouted, "And this is Frankystein Mark II!"

Sapphire watched him for a moment, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. Sapphire shook his head, but before he could do anything,

DANGER!

Sapphire dove away as the largest burst of adrenaline he'd ever felt shot through his body. SOMETHING was going to happen, and it was not going to be fun. As he landed and clumsily got back up to his feet, he looked up at what had triggered his instincts. And up. Then a little bit more up. It was a large _freaking _robot, complete with bucket head and cartoonish sunglasses. It looked like its main body was made from a large barrel, with several pipes and metallic objects poking out at random angles, and tank like tracks on the bottom.

As he was still observing it, the machine wound up and threw a punch, which prompted Sapphire to jump to the side quickly, dodging the attack. Even when he landed several feet away, he could feel the shockwaves in the earth from the force of the barrel-tanks punches.

It stilled and let out a burst of steam so hot that Sapphire could feel it from far away, before going back into motion and speeding towards him. Sapphire yelled in fear and ducked under its punch, before rolling out of the way so that it didn't run him over with its treads. He got back to his feet and watched as it slowed again, steam pouring out of it. "That's my chance, whenever it vents its steam, it's vulnerable!"

Suddenly, the machine spun and slammed its fist into him, throwing him back into one of the few trees in the field. He coughed, feeling pain shoot through his body. The thing hit almost as hard as Starman Junior did! He tried to use Lifeup, but the psychic power fizzled out, and Sapphire realized that he'd finally reached his psychic limits. Until he had some time to rest, he wouldn't be throwing around any more Hypnosis' or Lifeup's.

The machine shut down to vent the steam it built up, and Sapphire sprung forwards, slamming his bat against its body. The wood slightly splintered, but the metal holding it together prevented it from being bashed in, and Sapphire had to quickly jump back so he wasn't torn into. He stumbled back, looking over the robot for weak points. The head? He could bat it off… no, it was bolted on.

The machine stilled to vent, and Sapphire quickly shot forward again. Well, maybe he didn't need to find a weak point. As long as he kept dodging and only attacked when it was cooling down, he could slowly whittle it down, death by a thousand cuts style. He brought his bat down on its arm, splintering some of the wood, before jumping away as it recovered and tried to slam its arms against him.

It sped forward and Sapphire ducked away, watching as it slammed into a tree and tore it down. Sapphire then chased after it and slammed his bat onto one of its pipes. It trembled for a moment before steam tried to escape through the broken pipe. It easily exited the others, but the broken pipe bulged and the machine whined as the steam couldn't exit.

Sapphire watched for a moment before nodding. New plan, smash the pipes. He shot forward and slammed his bat into another pipe, bending it. He then had to jump away as the machine tried to slam into him, going slightly crazy. It threw its arms around, and Sapphire quickly ducked away.

It slammed into the arcade building, cracking several bricks, before shuddering and pausing as it tried to vent its steam. He quickly ran up and slammed down on the last two pipes, causing the machine to rumble and let off a high-pitched screech as steam began pouring out of the cracks in its armor.

Sapphire fell back as the machine began spinning like crazy, before driving right towards him. Sapphire rolled to the side and got up, before noticing that his Tee ball bat was gone. He then noticed that when the machine had rumbled by, the bat had gotten stuck in the machine's treads. Sapphire bit his lip, watching the machine. It would obviously stop working soon, but how soon? With how it was going crazy, it might bust through the fence surrounding the field and hurt someone.

Sapphire nodded as he made up his mind. He'd have to destroy it before it got loose. He reached back into his backpack and grabbed his old Cracked bat, before charging at the thing. It didn't notice him, or it did and just didn't care, and he jumped onto it, almost falling due to its erratic movements. He then climbed onto the head, where he saw that several of the bolts had flown off from the internalized pressure.

Sapphire wound up, before bashing its head as hard as he could. _Smash! _The head flew off, and Sapphire was thrown back as a pressurized explosion of pure steam destroyed the body. Sapphire rolled across the ground, clutching his face as the intense heat burned him. He gasped, feeling liquid drip down his face, part water, part blood. However, when the machine exploded, he felt a rush of energy, and quickly put it to use.

"P-PSI Lifeup α…" He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the wound on his face heal and Sapphire slowly got up, putting his Cracked bat away and grabbing his Tee ball bat. He approached Frank and made sure to stomp on the remote that he had dropped, just in case he had hidden another of the monstrosities somewhere nearby.

Now that he was on his feet and moving, he noticed he felt much better. Most likely because of the Lifeup, but it was probably also the rush of energy he felt from defeating the Frankystein machine. After all, no other enemy had given him that much of a rush, except Starman Junior. God, if Sapphire didn't know any better, he'd say he was in one of his games, and he'd just leveled up. He shook his head and stood over Frank, tapping his bat threateningly

"I… lost. Fail-proof Frank is now just Failure Frank."

"Oh wow… I feel so bad. Not." Sapphire narrowed his eyes. "You tried to kill me! You could have just knocked me out or something but no!"

Frank looked down at the ground. "I… know that you intend to go to Giant's Step, through the passage behind the traveling entertainer's shack." Sapphire's eyes widened. Did he know about his quest? So… did that mean he _was _influenced by Giygas? The traveling entertainer's shack was so far away from Shark territory that there should have been no reason that Frank would tear the place up. He must have been influenced then!

"Since you defeated me, I'll tell you what I know of it. It… seems to be quite a powerful spot, and a certain kind of power is stored there that allows certain people to perform wondrous feats."

Sapphire nodded. "That's why I'm heading there."

Frank acknowledged his remark, before continuing. "However, some monster has sucked up all of the energy at that spot. To get to Giant's Step, you'll have to defeat it." Sapphire sighed. So he was right. Giygas had planted some creature at the Sanctuary to stop him. "For some reason, I was compelled to bust up the shack, so nobody could get through. But… that's all I know. If you want more info, then you'll have to find it on your own. Sapphire, I'm sure you know that Mayor Pirkle has the key to the shack?"

"I assumed someone in city hall did, but I wasn't sure who."

Frank nodded. "Sapphire… you've become stronger than I. Your adventure is just beginning…"

Sapphire looked down at him, before looking at his own hand. After defeating the Frankystein, he felt that he'd gained enough energy for about two Lifeups. One, he used on himself. The other… Sapphire closed his eyes. Frank was a bad guy, but how much of that was Giygas' influence? "Frank, you'll be disbanding the sharks now?"

"Yes, you have my word."

Sapphire nodded. Time to see if this could work. He held his hand over Frank's body, before pushing energy through his arm. "PSI Lifeup α." Frank's body glowed for a moment before his injuries disappeared. Sapphire gave a tight smile. "I think part of being a hero is forgiveness. Frank, good luck with whatever you chose to do with your life next."

Frank looked at him as he stood up, before giving a bright, non-malicious grin. "Thanks, kid! Say, how about you rest up here? If you're gonna fight a monster at Giant's Step, you're gonna want to be at one-hundred percent!" Sapphire returned the smile and nodded.

He was nearing his first Sanctuary.

* * *

Sapphire looked upwards towards the sun, making sure to use the bill of his cap to shield his eyes and not look directly at it. It seemed to be around one to two in the afternoon, which honestly shocked him. It felt like so much longer! Although it did make sense. He'd set off when it was dawn, and then traveling around Onett hadn't taken that long. Even beating the sharks, though difficult, wasn't that much of a time consumer.

Really, it was probably just resting after the fight with Frank and the Frankystein that had taken maybe an hour. A quick nap, plus getting aole food at the burger joint. Plus a spare one to go if he got hungry later. Either way, when he looked at it as being the exact same day he had started his journey, he was making great time!

Speaking of the Sharks, it seemed they hadn't truly dispersed yet. He could still see some here and there, but it looked like they weren't causing any trouble. Besides that, it probably took some time to disband a gang, he'd give it a bit of time.

Sapphire walked up the stairs to city hall, ignoring the man protesting about the wild dogs and snakes. Although, he hadn't seen any snakes… eh, he was probably lucky. After all, Lifeup healed his physical wounds, he wasn't sure if it could affect poisons or whatever.

He walked past him into a back room with a staircase, where an older blonde lady was doing some paperwork. She looked up and raised an eyebrow when she noticed the thirteen-year-old boy enter the room, and quickly set down her pen. "Can ah help you, sugah?"

Sapphire nodded. "I'd like to see Mayor Pirkle, please. Wow, there are a lot of people with P's in their name…"

The lady ignored his mutter and leaned forward slightly. "And just who ah' you?"

"I'm Sapphire, I'm the guy who disbanded the Sharks." The lady's eyes lit up and she sat up straight.

"Oh! My ah-pologies! Go right on ahead, sugah!" Sapphire smiled and thanked her, walking up the stairs as she picked up a phone in the background. "Mayah Pirkle? The kid who done beat up the Sharks is here ta see yah!"

When he got to the top of the stairs, a cop immediately ran up to him, gripping his hands and shaking them. "Thank you so much for all of your help son! You really gave those ruffians what-for!"

The rest of the people in the office spoke their assent, and Sapphire blushed at the attention. "Ah, well, you know what they say, good deeds…" Sapphire trailed off into a murmur as he tried to deflect everyone's praise, embarrassed. He walked through the people, shaking hands whenever somebody wanted to until he reached the mayor's desk. "Uh, hi."

The man shot out of his seat and vigorously shook his hand, causing Sapphire to yelp in surprise. "I'm Mayor B.H. Pirkle! It is SO nice to meet you!"

"Yeah, likewise. Uh, so you already know who I am?"

"Of course I do! You beat up the town bullies, punched them out big time, kicked their butts, bit their heads off, spit in their eyes, and made them wet their pants!"

"I… think I did maybe two of those things…"

"And then, of course, you made them promise not to cause trouble! Thank you! If there's anything you need, please, just ask!"

"Well, would you mind giving me a key to the traveling entertainer's shack?"

"Of course, of course!" He began rooting around in his desk for the key. "For someone as great as you, giving you the key could help keep Onett safe!"

"You have no idea how right you are…"

"Here you are!" The mayor gave him a small unassuming key with a tag that had the letters T, S, and E on it. "One condition though! If you encounter a dangerous situation, the responsibility is on you to take care of yourself!"

Sapphire nodded. "You got it!"

"Rightio! Good luck with whatever you're doing!" Sapphire waved goodbye, before moving to exit the building.

Soon after he was back outside, and on his way to Giant's Step. As he approached the shack, he could still see the guys in clown makeup, as depressed as ever. Well, he was about to lighten up their day! Sapphire quickly approached the door and unlocked it, turning to see the entertainer's ecstatic.

"Hey, you got it open!" One of them ran up to him and gave him a hug, which he laughed and returned. "Here, a trinket for good luck and thanks!" He handed Sapphire what looked like a small golden coin with a bolt of lightning on it, and a gold string that could go around his neck. "I call it the Travel Charm!"

Sapphire smiled and put the coin around his neck, nodding his thanks at the man. The man grinned brightly before going to talk with his compatriot. Sapphire turned away and approached the shack, entering it. Sapphire raised an eyebrow at the sight, the inside was a mess, even more so than Lier's house!

Torn up boards, shattered chairs, the bed in the corner was completely cut up, and there was even a large hole in the back of the shack! Heh. back. Shack. Sapphire shook his head and walked through it, into a small, hidden grove where he could see a cave entrance in the mountain. Sapphire cracked his neck, before approaching the entrance.

Inside, Sapphire cringed as several bugs scattered, and he shook his feet to make sure none were climbing up him. Gross… Sapphire looked around the cave, observing it. There was a large cliff wall next to him, and several stalagmites scattered around the cave, which Sapphire could only assume the bugs were hiding behind.

Sapphire began walking forward, following the twists and turns of the cave. Obviously, the maps he'd gotten earlier did not show the inside of the cave, so he'd have to explore everywhere. Luckily, however, the cave so far was a single line, so there was no chance of him getting lost yet. On the other hand, the farther in he got, the less sunlight filtered in, and it was slowly getting darker and darker.

Sapphire stilled when he heard squeaking, and spun around, looking for the source of the noise. He _hated _mice. Or was it rats?! He backed up, before something crunched underfoot. He slowly looked down, before gagging when he saw bones. He fell onto his backside, scooting backward until his back slammed against the cave wall and held his hands to his mouth.

I-It was a human skeleton… someone had _died _here. His eyes roved over the decayed corpse, trying to hold in his vomit. This was the first time he'd been faced with death. Being attacked by Frank may have made him fear for his life, but he hadn't actually died. The animals he'd killed made him feel sick, but they were still _technically _animals, and even then they were corrupted by Giygas. This…? This was actual, real proof that he could die.

HIs eyes roved over the skeleton, spotting several bugs crawling over the remains, with several maggots burrowing through what flesh remained… nope, couldn't hold it in. Sapphire turned and quickly lost his lunch, splashing the ground with his vomit. He shuddered, pulling his hat down over his eyes. This… was terrifying! There was a damn dead body in front of him! He thought he had been ready, but… but…

Danger.

Sapphire's thought process slowed when he felt pressure on his leg and his body jerked with adrenaline and looked up to see a large rat, about the size of a football, grinning with a human mouth and eyes. Sapphire screamed and brought his bat around to bash the rat away, scrambling to his feet. The rat slammed against a stalagmite, before falling to the floor. It hissed and tried to jump up and bite him, but he scrambled away and slammed his bat down on it, crushing it.

Sapphire breathed deeply for a moment, before standing up. The rats in here were larger than any other rat he'd ever heard of. Was this another part of Giygas' influence? He couldn't just understand how such a large mutation could occur. He shook his head and walked deeper into the cave, forcing himself to ignore the body. As he wandered deeper, he could see several bugs scurrying around. Sapphire ignored them, at least until he began feeling itchy.

Danger.

He looked down and was startled when he saw several ants climbing his body, and biting down on his flesh. He threw his bat to the side and began sweeping his hands across his arms and legs, trying to scrape the ants off. However now that he looked closer, he saw that the ants weren't really normal ants. Their bodies were metallic, and their antennae looked… well, like normal antennae, but also more like robotic antennas.

Were they mutated by Giygas as well, or were they just some robot ants?! Either way, Sapphire couldn't get them all off as they continued to bit him, and so instead he focused, before launching a Hypnosis off. "PSI Hypnosis α!" The blue and pink light flowed off of him, before one of the ants fell asleep. Only one. Sapphire growled at this, before he fell to the floor and began rolling back and forth, feeling the _crunch _of the ants below his body.

When he got back up, none were left clinging to him, but a few were still alive. Sapphire expected them to try and escape, but instead, they flashed, and before his eyes, their bodies repaired themselves. They could use Lifeup as well! Sapphire grabbed his bat and began slamming it down on them, killing them one by one. Eventually, they were all dead, and Sapphire looked around for any more, before shuddering and continuing. Great, now he had to look out for rats and ants.

Sapphire gripped his bat nervously as he entered another cavern, the darkness much greater in there than the first cavern, being much closer to the entrance. He heard more squeaking and looked around nervously, before seeing that there was no other exit in the area. More squeaking sounded out and Sapphire whimpered, not wanting to encounter any more rats. He spotted a rope, not a rope ladder but an actual rope, which Sapphire quickly began scrambling up it.

When he reached the top of the rope he let out a sigh of relief, before

Danger.

yelping and rolling to the side as a rat shot by his head. He scrambled to his feet and brandished his bat, seeing several pairs of glowing eyes staring at him out of the dark. A short whimper came from his mouth, before he had to defend himself from a flying rat. Said rat shot at him, and he quickly batted it out of the air. Another two began running at him, and he slammed one with his bat, while the other managed to sink its fangs into his calf.

He cried out and reached down, internally squirming as he gripped the rat's furry body, trying to tear it from his leg. It just gripped harder, and he cried out as its… not hooked fangs, more chipped in such a way that they were cracked into a hook-like shape, caught on his flesh. He blinked away the tears that formed and fired a Hypnosis. "PSI Hypnosis α!" The rat quickly fell slack, and Sapphire tore it from his leg, its fangs still providing some friction and tearing away some flesh.

He screamed and fell back, feeling blood pour from the wound. As he fell back, More rats swarmed him and began biting and tearing at him. Another rat jumped at his throat, but he caught it midair and began bashing it into the floor. His instincts and adrenaline were powering him now, the slight sickness he felt from killing completely gone, and blood pumping as his survival instincts pushed him to fight.

As the rat lay against the floor, bones shattered, he turned to grab a rat biting down on his thigh, ripping it away and tossing it off the side of the cliff he'd climbed up. A final rat bit down on his bicep, and he quickly grabbed its jaw, tearing it away and grabbing his bat to bash it away. He gasped for breath a moment, feeling blood pour from several wounds. "P-PSi Lifeup α." His body glowed and quickly began regenerating flesh, and he lay there for a moment.

He slowly breathed in and out, fighting back tears. He couldn't break down, not again. He… had to keep going. He used his bat as a crutch, slowly rising to his feet, feeling his energy come back to him. He continued through the caverns, until he found another rope. He began climbing, only hesitating for a when he heard some odd squelching noises above him.

He peeked over the edge of the cliff, not seeing anything, before climbing. He slowly moved forward, keeping an eye out, before seeing several slugs approaching him. He quickly got ready, a sensation in the back of his head telling him they were dangerous. He began squishing them with his bat and feet, not seeing what made them so dangerous, before one of them let off a ray of blue and pink lights.

ZAP.

Sapphire stumbled back, feeling his mind cloud up and his bones seem to increase in weight. He yawned, feeling immensely tired, before growling and slapping his bat against his face, waking himself up. He stumbled as another Hypnosis attack hit him, and he tried to focus through it How could they use PSI? Wasn't he supposed to be special, the only one that could use these powers? Well, the ants did use Lifeup, so maybe people and animals affected by Giygas could use PSI… Maybe, he should stop worrying, fall back and sleep.

...No… He couldn't sleep… If he fell back, he'd fall right off the cliff… Keep… moving… Sapphire lazily swung his bat, but luckily the psychic attack slugs were incredibly weak defensively and were squashed near instantly. He stumbled forward, aiming to squash the slugs under his clumsy feet. When all the slugs were dead, Sapphire fell to his knees and looked for more. Seeing none, he let himself succumb to the Hypnosis attacks and drifted off.

A few minutes afterward, Sapphire jolted awake. He looked around, before getting up. It didn't feel like he slept that long, so the Hypnosis attacks probably just made him feel tired, without actually changing his brain chemistry to require a large amount of sleep. Sapphire sighed and grabbed his bat, moving forward. He had to keep moving, somehow he knew he was almost there.

He fell to his knees almost immediately, before forcing himself up. Had to keep going. There was an opening in the rock ahead, with sunlight shining through it. He walked through. And breathed deeply when he realized he was back outside. He walked to the edge of the cliff, overlooking Onett. The small nap he'd been forced into had helped him somewhat regain his energy, but he wasn't fully ready. Should he go back, rest in Onett before trying again? No, he'd have to fight all the way through the rats and ants and slugs again, he'd be just as tired, even if he knew what was coming.

He breathed out, feeling a sense of peace come over him. What was happening? He felt calmer… He looked to the side and saw a small yellow and orange butterfly, that had a trail of sparkles land on his shoulder. His vision was tinted purple for a moment, and he closed his eyes and sighed as his muscles relaxed. He blinked and looked around a moment later, but the butterfly was gone. He smiled, feeling revitalized and stood up.

He looked to his right and saw another cave entrance, walking towards that. He was back at full strength, he could do this! He entered the cave and several more waves of insects scatter. Some of them were the larger robot ants, but he ignored them since they were running away. To his front and right was a large drop off into another cave, so instead, he decided to go to the left, where another opening in the wall was.

When he entered the second cavern, he found a rope and looked up. And up. A bit more up. The rope was quite long. He sighed and holstered his bat, beginning to climb. Good thing he wasn't afraid of heights. He struggled a bit, having to dig his feet into the rock, but eventually reached the top. When he did, he stretched, only to groan when he saw another rope. He grumbled as he climbed the second one, his feet slipping against the wall at several points.

He climbed onto solid ground, looking around the small area he had climbed onto. The only thing on the platform were small stalagmites and a single hole in the back wall. However, Sapphire froze when a large shadow appeared in the opening, and his heart rate shot up and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Out of the shadows, a clacking of metal sounded out, and several robot-ants crawled out of the dark. Sapphire shivered as a dark voice spoke directly into his mind, "You have finally arrived…" The voice was alien, speaking with a raspy _clack clack_ of mandibles cracking together. "This is the first of your Sanctuaries." Sapphire tried to force the voice out of his head, but it dug deeper and deeper, all the while the ants began surrounding him, sparks of energy flying off their antennae. "But, it is mine now. Take it from me, if you dare…" With that final threat, the unknown enemy cackled and stepped out of the darkness.

Sapphire backed up, heart hammering as he observed the enemy. It was a Titanic ant, easily larger than him, maybe six feet tall. Was it that large because of Giygas, or from absorbing the power of his sanctuary? Its two back limbs were used as legs, while its four front ones were more like arms, twitching and flexing, probably from it thinking of how it could tear him apart. Its body was a steel gray color, with stripes of black, its large head sporting a large vicious grin, and its antennae sparked just like the smaller ants.

Sapphire frowned as he observed it, fear shooting through his heart. It seemed almost familiar. Had he seen this creature before? No. It wasn't possible, he'd only ever seen regular tiny ants. So why was it

Tossing and turning in bed

Jaws chomping down on him

Nightmares of bright psychedelic colors

Falling

So familiar to him? He shook his head. No matter how familiar it was, he had to beat it! The ant laughed, a harsh grating noise, and charged him. He dove to the side, sweeping away several ants as he did, and watched as the Titanic Ant carelessly knocked aside its own brethren.

It turned to him, before its antennae flared, and its body was covered in a familiar shield. Sapphire grimaced. It could conjure shields like Buzz Buzz did? That could be problematic. Unless… He grinned, remembering how the Starman could still hit him physically through the shield, it was just his psychic attacks that didn't work.

Sapphire yelled and charged in, bringing his bat down on the Titanic Ant, but its shields flashed and his hit rebounded, allowing the ant to grab him and throw him into a stalagmite. Okay… so the ant's shield protected them from physical attacks. Great. Several ants began crawling on and biting him, and he growled as he began rolling over himself, crushing them. He tried to jump to his feet only for the Titanic Ant to grab his leg and bite down hard. Sapphire screamed, before bringing his bat down as hard as he could on the ant's head.

The shield definitely protected it, but it didn't stop the full force of his blow, and the ant let go, but not before throwing him aside. Sapphire grimaced and used Lifeup to heal himself, Feeling the holes in his leg slowly heal. Not all the way, but enough. This battle looked like it would be fierce, he couldn't waste energy.

"Kill him, Antoids!" Sapphire stepped back as the Ant directed more… Antoids… at him. He swept his bat across the ground, digging up dirt and rocks as he threw aside the Black Antoids. As he was distracted the Titanic Ant skittered over and Sapphire attempted to jump back, but it managed to bite down _hard _on his arm. He screamed again and dropped his bat, slamming his free hand down on the ant's head. It only served to injure his hand on the metallic carapace and psychic shield, and he fell to his knees as the ant ground its mandibles deeper into his arm.

He… He needed some way to fight back! Without a bat, he could do nothing, and even with one, its shields protected it! The ant grabbed him and slammed him onto the ground, before snapping its jaws at him, trying to eat him. He barely held it back using his forearms, feeling his arms shaking as the ant's strength let it close in, its mouth inches from his face, drool leaking onto him. "PSI Hypnosis α!" The Ant flinched for a moment, before shaking its head and redoubling its efforts.

Sapphire closed his eyes trying to lean back. There was nothing! Over and over again he'd faced odds that made him question if he could survive, but now there was legitimately nothing he could do! Physically he was weaker, it had shields, even Hypnosis didn't stun it for long enough! He had no hope…

Hope

Eight points

His bright grin

A pretty smile

Shining glasses

A determined glare

The world was relying on them

They were Hope

Sapphire's eyes snapped open and glowed. No, he still had hope. Because he had to. If he failed here, Giygas would win, and he could not let that happen! Deep within his mind, another lock shattered. Words echoed in his mind. Hope, hope, hope, over and over again. He knew what he had to do. He moved his arms, pressing his palms against the underside of the Titanic Ant, just as it lunged down.

"PSI HOPE α!"

ZZ-BOOM!

There was a psychedelic flash, colors flashed through the cave, lighting it up with the intensity of the midday sun, yellow, blue, red, the room exploded, quite literally, as the area they fought on erupted. Sapphire felt himself get tossed back, rolling over himself. He slowly got up and observed the battlefield. The floor was cratered and several stalagmites had been shattered while smoke rose from a large hole and every single Antoid had been killed from the area of effect the explosion had. The Titanic Ant itself was rising as well, and while the damage didn't seem too serious, he knew just a few more shots would be all that was necessary.

The Ant hissed in pure fury, one of its mandibles shattered. "YOU WILL PAY!" Sapphire stared back determined, no longer afraid of its warbling voice. It charged forward and he dove for his bat, bringing it up to slam into its face. It ignored the bat, thinking that its shield would protect it, only to let out a shocked screech when his bat slammed hard into its face.

"Didn't notice that your shield went down?" Sapphire hissed, bringing his bat around in an uppercut strike, _smashing _the Ant backward. It hissed back, and instead of attacking again, backed up, trying to put up another shield. Sapphire didn't let this happen and instead fired off another Hope.

"PSI Hope α!" His arm glowed with a rainbow of colors, and shot forward, slamming into the Titanic Ant, exploding and throwing up a cloud of smoke, as well as several rocks and clumps of dirt. Sapphire, even several feet away, had to shield his face from the rocks. Sapphire looked into the smoke, searching for the Ant, before it shot out, and slammed its arm into him, _smashing _him aside. He was thrown across the cave, only stopping barely a foot away from the cliff edge that he'd climbed.

He slowly rose to his feet and used Lifeup, before stumbling after his body was fully healed. He was beginning to run low on power. Hope seemed to take a large amount of energy, the most out of any of his psychic attacks, while Lifeup took the least and Hypnosis was a bit more than Lifeup. Since it seemed Hypnosis was useless against the Ant, he could either use Hope once more, and hope it finished the Ant off, or save it for Lifeups.

Sapphire wasn't able to decide before the Ant charged him again, and he dove to the side to avoid its attack. However, he almost fell off the ledge and had to grab a nearby stalagmite, cracking it. The Ant took advantage and swung its arms at him, throwing him off the ledge. He yelled as he fell, before grabbing the Ant's leg at the last moment.

The Ant could have easily held them both up, but with the ground being damaged from Sapphire's PSI Hopes, It quickly crumbled and they both fell. Sapphire scrambled for a handhold and found the rope. He quickly grabbed on and felt his hands burn from sliding down, before the Titanic Ant grabbed onto his leg the sheer weight of the monster causing Sapphire to let out a bloodcurdling scream as he felt at least one arm pop out of its socket.

Through sheer force of will he held on, but tears streamed from his eyes as he was dragged down the rope, feeling it burn his hands. The Ant screeched and clawed at his legs, biting down on them to hold on. Sapphire's mind worked on overdrive, trying to find some way out of the situation. He quickly focused on the ground that was fast approaching below them. He could see several sharpened stalagmites and narrowed his eyes through the pain. Enough power left for a PSI Hope, but he wouldn't be able to heal after…

Seeing the spikes approach, he made up his mind. "PSI HOPE α!" The Ant let off a final screech as they were both engulfed in the psychedelic explosion, and the Titanic ant let go, letting off a final scream as it fell and plunged onto one of the Stalagmites, its metal carapace being pierced and blood spurting into the air. Sapphire felt himself slow and hung from the rope, before the pain slammed into him.

He winced and began climbing back up, hugging both legs around the rope to substitute for his dislodged arm, he could taste salt as his tears rolled down his face the pain almost unbearable and his determination the only thing pushing him on. He pulled himself up onto solid ground, spotting his bat near the edge of the cliff. He grabbed it and holstered it, hobbling forward and cradling his arm.

Now that the Titanic Ant wasn't guarding the exit, he could see that sunlight was streaming through. He slowly exited the dark, dank cave, into the warm sunlight. But he couldn't enjoy it long. He was losing consciousness, even his willpower not able to keep him from blacking out due to pain for long. He fell to his knees and began crawling forward. "Have… to keep going…"

He looked up when his fingers brushed a mound of dirt. It was the edge of a large footprint, made by either human hands digging out the dirt or an actual giant, Sapphire didn't care. Because when he saw the footstep, there was a tingle at the back of his mind. It recognized him. Not literally, it wasn't alive, but the energy of the place… it flowed through him.

There was a warmth in his pocket, and he reached inside to grab the forgotten Sound Stone. He held it out, and it began glowing. Soon, a melody began to play. It was soft, loud, quiet, powerful, a tear-jerker, and energizing all at once. It was too short for his liking, and he badly wished that it would continue. The melody… It was so familiar…

Sapphire unintentionally closed his eyes, smiling, and didn't even notice as his wounds began closing, his arm popping back into place. In the back of his mind, Sapphire saw a distant vision, slowly growing clearer. It was a small, white puppy. It yipped happily, chasing its tail, before running up and licking him. For a brief moment, Sapphire could see a second vision. A small clearing in a valley, with only a few trees and a trail of steps.

Sapphire lay back, feeling more at peace than he'd ever felt in his life. At the same time, he felt empowered. Not in that he'd learned a new power, or even gotten stronger. Moreso that he'd finally completed the first step. His first Sanctuary… "I'm Sapphire, this is My Sanctuary…" He opened his eyes. "And I'm going to save the world."


	4. Chapter 4: Cops and Kidnappers

Chapter Four: Cops and Kidnappers

Sapphire walked back through the cave, bat at the ready. He saw several rats but instead of running at and attacking him, they instead ran away. The rest of the creatures in Giant's Step did as well, The slugs trying to crawl away and the bugs hiding behind stalagmites.

Sapphire thought about going after them since it was pretty obvious by now that killing or defeating anything corrupted by Giygas somehow gave him a boost in strength, but decided against it. Killing things to get stronger was cruel, and if they weren't attacking him, then he wouldn't go after them. That would be horrible and he wouldn't stoop to that level. Of course, the few slugs and creatures that were poisoned enough by Giygas' influence to still attack him were quickly dispatched of.

When he finally reached the exit, he wandered back through the entertainer's shack, only to stop when he saw a police officer waiting for him, whacking a baton against his hand, teeth gritted and veins in his forehead bulging. Sapphire gulped, not sure if he was in trouble or not. Sure, he'd just killed an evil minion of Giygas, but if he was in trouble with the police then he might not be able to continue his journey, or at least he could, but as a fugitive.

"Can I help you, officer?"

His baton immediately shot out, and Sapphire took a step back, only to see that the officer was pointing towards the sign by the shack. "The sign. It says 'Do not enter.' Can you just not read, or do you blatantly disregard the rules wherever you go?!"

"H-hey, I have permission to be here! From the mayor himself!"

The officer's nostrils flared, and he slapped his baton back against his hand. "Come down to the station later!" Sapphire watched as he stalked off, before sighing and adjusting his hat. Looked like he had to head to the police station later. For now, he would… what would he do? He didn't have any idea of where the next Sanctuary was, Buzz Buzz only told him about the first.

A sudden wave of dizziness washed over him, and he shook his head. His Sanctuary may have healed him, but he still needed to rest. After all, he was still running low on energy. As Sapphire walked back into Onett, he decided to stay at Hotel Onett. That way, he could take a short nap then head to the police station without wasting time going back to his house, then all the way back into Onett.

Hotel Onett was only a few blocks into town, so Sapphire entered, looking towards a bored looking man behind the counter. He looked up as Sapphire approached, plastering on a fake looking smile. "Hello, Sir, and welcome to Hotel Onett. A one night stay will cost you thirty-five dollars." Sapphire handed over two forty dollar bills and grabbed his change. "Your room is the second on the right."

Sapphire tiredly thanked the man and walked up the stairs in the back of the building towards the second floor, where he quickly entered his room. It was pretty plain, but Sapphire couldn't care less, dropping his bag on the ground while kicking off his shoes, and flopping onto the bed. He groaned face-down into the pillow, before rolling over. After a moment he dug into his pocket and pulled out the Sound Stone. In one of the eight indents, there was a red footprint marking.

Sapphire pressed the cool stone against his head and realized he could hear the quiet melody of the Sanctuary resonating through his mind. Not even through his ears, but directly into his mind. He relaxed, and soon enough he was in a deep sleep.

"...Sa…"

...?

"Sapphire…"

Was someone calling to him?

"I am a friend you haven't met yet…"

He was surrounded by darkness… But in the distance there was color. ...Pink?

"Can you hear me calling…?"

Sapphire tried to answer the female voice, but could not, no sound escaping him.

"My name is…"

Sapphire awoke and slowly rose. What just…? Sapphire felt like something had happened while he slept, but couldn't remember clearly what happened. He snorted as he got up. It had been like that a long time, He would always get the feeling that something happened, or that he had to do something, but he never could recall how he knew. Right now, the only thing he could recall was… Pink?

Sapphire shook his head. What to do next… Going to the police station was probably necessary to clear up the whole Giant's Step mishap, but he could be in a lot of trouble, and be prevented from saving the world. No, he had to go… where? Obviously, the next sanctuary wasn't in Onett, but the closest town was Twoson, so maybe he could find some info on where to go next there?

Sapphire sighed and put on his shoes. It was really the only idea he had, but it was also, probably, the most profitable. After all, not much else was in Onett. Time to move on. He slung his bag over his shoulder and exited his room, almost bumping into the bellhop. "Oh, excuse me, sir, I was just about to deliver your morning paper."

"Thanks." Sapphire took the paper and looked it over, smiling when he read the headline. 'Tamer of the Sharks actually a boy in a red cap!' He was recognized as a hero! Then again, he was also technically a vigilante… Well, all the more reason to get out of Onett. He could deal with being arrested or whatever after his journey.

Before he left the building, he saw a phone on the main desk with a card that said 'free phone calls.' Sapphire walked over and picked it up, dialing the number for his house. The phone rang twice before there was a click and he heard his mother's voice. "Hello?"

He grinned. "Hey, Mom."

"Oh, Sapphire! You called much sooner than I thought."

"I wanted to let you know I'm all right. I'm going to head to Twoson soon, and I wanted to know how you and Tracey are."

"We're doing just fine back at the house. And King scares off any rabid dogs, crows, or snakes, so we're perfectly safe!"

"That's good to know. I'm glad you're alright."

"But what about you? I got the paper this morning and it was talking about how you put a stop to those nasty Sharks! I'm so proud of my little boy!"

Sapphire's grin widened, even as his voice wavered. "T-thanks, mom!"

In the background, Sapphire could hear running and Tracey's voice. "…that Sapphire?"

"Oh that's right, Tracey has started working for the Escargo Express!"

"Seriously? That's awesome!"

"Here, I'll let you talk to her. And make sure to call whenever you have time, but if you're too busy I'll understand!"

"I can make time, don't worry." Sapphire smiled.

There was a sound on the other end before he heard his beloved little sister's voice. "Big bro! You're all right!"

"You know it, Trace. Don't worry, Big brother is gonna go out and save the world to make sure it's safe for you and mom."

There was a giggle on the other end. "Well don't knock yourself out in the process all right? Make sure to take breaks every now and then!"

"I'll remember sis, don't worry."

"Oh, so did mom tell you about how I'm working for the Escargo Express now?"

"Yeah, and so young, too!"

"Well, I wanted to help you out on your adventure. So I figured this would be a great way to do so! Speaking of, do you need and deliveries or pick-ups?"

Sapphire almost said no, before remembering the Cracked bat he no longer had a use for. "Actually, yeah, I've got something for pickup. It's the old cracked bat. It's been a bit damaged, well, more so than it already was, but I can't really use it. I want you to keep it, and whenever you head to school make sure to take it and King for protection. If your teachers have a problem with that, they can talk to me, the savior of the world!"

There was a laugh, "Alright Big Bro, I'll make sure to do that. We'll send someone over for pickup immediately! Bye Bro!"

"See ya, Trace!" There was a click, and Sapphire put the phone down. He then picked it up again, before dialing the number for his father. The phone rang before his dad picked up. "Hey, dad?"

"Ah, there's my little hero! How are you, Son?"

Sapphire grinned. "I'm doing just fine, dad. About to head out from Onett for… oh, I guess you don't even know what's going on, do you?"

"Well, your mother actually filled me in! Going on an adventure to save the world? That's my boy!"

"Heh, thanks, dad."

"I want to help as much as I can, so besides just recording your adventure, I'm going to be sending money to your account whenever I can!"

Sapphire was shocked, but touched."D-dad, you don't have to do that!"

"Of course I do." His father sounded uncharacteristically serious. "You're going to need money for food, supplies, bus tickets, all sorts of things. If I can't be there to protect you in person, then I'll do it however I can."

"I… Thanks."

"It's no problem. Now! How about you tell me all about your adventure so far!" Sapphire did so, taking a few minutes to explain how he'd gotten rid of the Sharks, and then battled his way through Giant's Step before fighting a Titanic Ant. "Wow! Now that sounds exciting! All right, I've written down your adventure so far. Good luck out there, son, I know you'll make me proud!"

"You've got it, dad." There was a click on the other end, signaling the end of the conversation before Sapphire put down his phone. He smiled, before turning and moving to leave.

He exited the hotel and began walking south, where the pavement transferred to dirt. Sapphire snorted, noting how his town was so out of the way that they didn't even have paved roads that connected to the next town over. However, his heart dropped when he saw that there was a police blockade ahead. And not one that he could sneak by, there were several officers, along with multiple cars.

He walked up to one of the officers, trying to use his thirteen-year-old charm. "Excuse me mister, but why-"

"If you want to get past, ya can't. The only way to lift the roadblock is to talk with Chief Strong." Sapphire flapped his mouth a second at the cop's quick dismissal, before sighing and walking away. Just perfect. Now, he _had_ to go to the police station. No choice in the matter.

The station was actually rather close to the edge of town, being on one of the last few streets on the south end of town. He entered the building, looking around until his eyes fell on the police officer that had approached him at Giant's Step. The officer spotted him at the same time and stormed over, "So there you are!"

Sapphire leaned back as the officer leaned in, spittle flying. "You're the little delinquent that came back from Giant's Step!"

"Sir, as I tried to say earlier-"

He was cut off. "Now you listen here, Don't enter means just that! DO NOT ENTER! You got that?!"

"Sir-"

"And furthermore…" Sapphire began drifting off, the officer's words drifting in and out as he began talking about tax evaders, and blocking off the roads, then whiners complaining about meteorites and emergencies. Sapphire began rubbing his temples, annoyed.

Eventually, he just cut the cop off. "Sir, I need to talk with Chief Strong about lifting the roadblock."

The officer's veins visibly grew in agitation, before another officer grabbed their shoulder and pulled them back calmly. Sapphire looked the guy over and deduced that he was either Chief Strong or another high-ranking officer. "Why is the road to Twoson closed? Why an emergency of course!"

"What emergency?"

The man just ignored him. "Why, at times like these, kids like you should just be playing Nintendo games."

"Listen…" Sapphire thought for a moment, "I have a cousin in Twoson who is super sick, I need to go see them."

The Chief leaned over him, rubbing his chin. "Are you sure you want to travel to Twoson?"

"Absolutely."

He leaned back, before chortling. "Very well. Follow me." Sapphire nodded and began following the officer past several jail cells, and an officer standing outside them. Soon, they entered a dull grey room, with only five other officers. The Chief turned to him, as one of the officers locked the door.

Sapphire narrowed his eyes and slowly reached back for his bat. "What's going on?"

The chief just spread his arms to indicate the officers. "Show me what you've got."

"I don't want any trouble, sir." Nevertheless, he moved his bat into a ready position and wrapped his fingers around the leather hilt, licking his lips nervously.

"See if you can get past five of my best men." At that, he walked away and stood next to the door. Oh damn it, were they corrupted by Giygas too?! Sapphire immediately observed the room. As he'd saw before, the room was pretty empty, but there _were_ two tall windows that he could crawl out of…

Before he could decide on a course of action, one of the officers jumped at him and swung their fist like a karate chop. Sapphire ducked away and brought his bat forward. "Hey, small fry, you must be shaking in your boots!" Sapphire glared at him in response and dodged his next karate chop.

"I've fought scarier," Sapphire yelled back, slamming his bat into the officer's stomach. As he bent over winded, Sapphire slammed his bat upwards, throwing them backward. The officer fell onto his back, before getting up. Sapphire readied himself for another attack, but instead, they walked towards the door, rubbing their face. "Damn, you're good. You should join the police force!"

"The average policeman is stronger than any superhero!" Sapphire spun as a second officer sprang forward, slamming a fist into his stomach. Sapphire coughed and fell back, before winding up and swinging hard. The officer surprised him with his speed and ducked, rolling under his attack before chopping him in the back.

Sapphire stumbled forward and growled, before turning quickly and catching the cop's next attack. The officer looked surprised that the thirteen-year-old boy could catch his attack, before Sapphire slammed the hilt of his bat into their nose, before whacking them away with it. They fell back, but when they got up they walked away, holding their nose and talking with a nasal tone of voice. "Oh… You won…"

Sapphire grinned to himself. These guys weren't so tough after all! Of course, there were five of them, but as long as they kept it to one-on-one battles he'd be fine. The next cop jumped forward, assuming some weird stance. "Don't let the mayor's compliments go to your head! Bring it on, fat boy!"

"Hey!" Sapphire growled and charged the officer, swinging hard for his ribs. The officer dodged back before leaping forward and _smashing _a chop into his face. Sapphire stumbled back as he felt warm blood leak from his nose, and fell to one knee. As the cop above him ranted about how he'd won, Sapphire clenched his fists. "PSI Lifeup α."

After he whispered to himself and his body glowed slightly, he jumped up, slamming the top of his head into the officer's chin, before reeling back and slamming his bat into the officer's stomach. The officer fell back into another officer's arms, before grumbling and leaving the room. "Heh, let's do this again sometime… Next time, I'll take you out with my nuclear suplex attack!"

Sapphire watched as he left, before turning to the next officer, who started by charging at him. "C'mon! I'm gonna take you apart right here, right now!" Sapphire just held his bat forward like he was bunting and the officer ran straight into it. He coughed out a breath, and Sapphire wound back and slammed them to the side. "Gah… I lost…"

The officer quickly left the room, and the last cop approached. Sapphire readied himself, but the cop just held up his hands and shook his head. "Hey, no need to worry about me, I'm going to call for my boss!"

Sapphire watched him go, before laughing to himself. He'd just beat up four bigger and… maybe not stronger adults, but still! One had even run away! Chief Strong nodded before stepping forward, twirling the edge of his mustache. "There is no way that I can best you in a straight competition… So, get ready for my 'Super Ultra Mambo-Tango-Foxtrot martial arts!"

"But… wouldn't it still be a one-on-one?"

Chief Strong paused for a moment, before shrugging. He then began jumping back and forth, waving his fists around weirdly. Sapphire raised an eyebrow as he watched before Strong leaped at him suddenly. Sapphire ducked under the attack and slammed his bat into the chief's side, causing him to stumble back.

He began dancing around again and when Sapphire charged him and swung, he defended quickly and his arms and Sapphire's bat shook as they impacted before Sapphire leaped back as Strong tried a submission hold.

Sapphire narrowed his eyes and threw his hand forward. "PSI Hypnosis α!" A flash of blue and pink light and Strong slumped forward dazed. Sapphire took the opening and slammed his bat against the chief's face, throwing them backward. This woke Strong, who recovered quicker than Sapphire expected and lost his temper, before grappling him.

Sapphire was thrown down and began choking when he realized he was now in a submission hold. He felt himself begin to black out, before he placed his hands against the floor and pulsed energy through them. He couldn't talk, but he could think the words and quickly launched a PSI Hope.

The ground below them erupted, the room getting lit up by the bright colors as they were thrown apart. Sapphire rolled to his feet, but Strong just lay there, before nodding. "I didn't think you would do so well against the Onett police force…" He got up, rubbing his face.

"Well, I did. Now open up the road." Sapphire narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Of course, you've proved you're strong enough to take care of yourself in the wild, and I gave my word. I'll radio my men and have them open the road." Sapphire nodded. He began exiting the room as the Chief talked on the radio, telling the officers about him. "Yeah, it'll be a kid in a red cap named Sapphire,"

Sapphire paused for a moment. "I didn't tell him my name…" shaking his head, he just continued along, until he reached the front door of the building with the officer that he'd encountered at Giant's Step waiting for him.

The officer looked at him for a moment, before smiling and nodding at him. "Good luck, kid." Sapphire nodded back and exited. He immediately headed south towards the roadblock, and the officers guarding it. Before he reached it, a delivery guy ran up.

"Hello, I'm from Escargo Express, here to pick up something?"

Sapphire nodded and pulled his cracked bat out from his bag, handing it to the man. "How much?"

"Your fee is eighteen dollars, please!" Sapphire nodded and gave him his money. Sapphire watched the guy run away before he stepped towards the police roadblock. The officers quickly noticed him and one stepped forward.

"You Sapphire?"

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

He nodded. "Well, I got the okay from the chief to let you through, good luck out there."

"Thanks." Sapphire smiled toothily back as the officer moved a barricade to the side. He quickly walked through, following the dirt road south. He was out of Onett, and on his way to save the world. But not just him of course, there were three others, a boy and two girls. Aside from the next Sanctuaries, maybe he could start looking for his companions in Twoson…

Sapphire stumbled as a lance of pain shot through his head, and he suddenly remembered his dream. what was that…? Something had spoken to him in his dreams? Or, someone? A friend he hadn't met yet?

That was probably one of them! It was a female voice too, so it was the girl of the group! He didn't know her name though… but, he at least had a slight lead, maybe his next companion was close by! Maybe even in Twoson!

The trees grew taller as Sapphire walked down the path, a couple of small houses nestled between the trees until the sun above him was almost completely blocked out. Luckily some sunlight still drifted through to light the way, but it was creepy enough as is. He couldn't imagine how spooky it could be at night. Every once in a while he could see something moving through the underbrush, and what looked like Antoids crawling across the path or up trees.

Of course, most didn't attack except for the more stupid ones, which he easily crushed. Eventually, he took a turn and began walking through an area with several red mushrooms swaying in the wind. Something tickled at the back of his mind, but he wasn't sure what, since everything looked normal.

Sapphire stopped, however, when he realized there was no wind. He slowly brought his bat out, expecting something to pop out, but was instead startled when the mushrooms themselves popped out of the ground on tiny legs and ran at him.

"You've got to be kidding me. Really?" Sapphire wound back and slammed his bat into a mushroom, throwing it aside until it slapped into a tree and stopped moving. "C'mon Giygas, mushrooms? MUSHROOMS?!" He slapped his bat downwards and squished another mushroom.

A third tried running at him and kicking him, but it was even more pathetic than the Antoids in that it didn't even hurt him. He almost felt bad for the little guys. At least, until it shook itself, and a cloud of spores enveloped him. He immediately sneezed and felt his eyes water, before he growled and kicked it away where it tumbled across the ground and went still.

Two were left, but when Sapphire tried slapping them aside with his bat, he almost vomited as the entire world went sideways. And not in the way that meant he had fallen on his side, no, his feet were planted in the ground but the world was on its side.

He growled and stumbled around, almost slamming into a tree before he wound up again and slammed his bat into the first mushroom, slamming it into the second and throwing them both into the underbrush. Sapphire then began stumbling forward, holding his head.

He was poisoned, probably. He needed to get to a hospital or something! Should he backtrack to Onett? The world lurched again as he tried turning. No, he couldn't go back, or else he'd collapse. He had to keep moving forward. Hopefully, there'd be a place in Twoson…

He fell to his knees, before crawling forward and grabbing a tree, pulling himself back up. His world was upside down now, literally, but he had to keep moving or else he'd succumb to the poison. Eventually, he spotted an opening in the trees and shot out into the sunlight. "Hi!" Sapphire turned to see a blonde lady smiling at him. "Would you like me to tell you about Twoson?"

"H-hospital…"

"Oh, the hospital is just east of here." Sapphire nodded only to gag when that made him more nauseous. He walked towards the hospital, not paying attention to the woman's passing remark. Something about a mushroom growing out of his head. Eventually, he reached the hospital and stumbled inside, before blacking out.

Several hours later Sapphire awoke, groaning. He looked to the side and jumped, the face of an unknown man inches from his own. "Hello," the man had grey hair and a beard, with wide eyes that seemed to stare through him. Sapphire remembered stumbling into the hospital before he had blacked out, so he almost assumed the man was a doctor if it wasn't for the priest like robes and vacant stare. "Though you may not believe it, I'm a healer."

Sapphire groaned in response.

"If people have illness' that cannot be treated at hospitals, they come to me." Sapphire nudged away, recognizing that the guy was probably crazy. "I noticed," the man licked his lips like he was nervous. "That you have a mushroom growing out of your head. Would you mind selling it to me? I'll pay you fifty dollars."

Sapphire gurgled something, but before he could say anything, blacked out again. What seemed like seconds later for him Sapphire awoke, shooting up and looking around. When he didn't see the weird healer guy, he relaxed, until he saw fifty dollars sitting on the nightstand. Sapphire stared for a moment, before picking it up and putting it in his pocket, vowing to never think on it again.

He grabbed his backpack from a chair near the bed and quickly exited the room, making his way out of the hospital. When the doors closed behind him, Sapphire breathed in and looked over the town of Twoson. It was a bit bigger than Onett, but still not an actual city. A few blocks away Sapphire could see a department store, while further in the distance he could see what looked like a park.

Sapphire paused and thought. Well, he was in Twoson… so now what? He began walking down the street, wondering what to do next. When he passed by a bicycle shop, he was tapped on the shoulder, and as he turned around he found the blond camera guy standing behind him. "Hey, it's you!"

"Get ready for an instant memory!"

"Hey wait, I-"

"Ready? Say Fuzzy Pickles!" A flash of light later and Sapphire had to blink the spots out of his eyes. When he looked around again, he sighed, seeing that the cameraman was nowhere to be found. He continued walking, eventually passing by a place named the Chaos Theatre.

He paused, seeing a line in front of the theatre. He turned the corner and saw what looked like two performers hanging out by their bus. He decided to talk with one of them, after all, performers traveled a lot, and if they traveled a lot, then they might know of some Sanctuaries! Or at least, weird magical spots like Giant's Step. "Hi, are you two traveling performers?"

One, the slightly chubbier one nodded. "Yep. We're called the Runaway Five! Although, we have a few money problems, so we're stuck in debt to the theatre. We aren't going to be traveling anytime soon…"

"Oh…" Sapphire sighed, dejected. It was a long shot, but still.

"You aren't from around here then? We've been stuck in Twoson for a while now," the skinner member said.

"Nope, I'm from Onett."

"Ah, so have you come here to try and see that famous girl who loves a bit to the south of here?"

Sapphire perked up slightly. A famous girl? Could that be…? "No, tell me about her!"

"I may be part of the Runaway Five, but that girl that lives at the house with the preschool is certainly the talk of the town. Word is, she has some weird powers! What was it… magic? No, no, PSI!"

Sapphire grinned. That must be her then! "Where does she live?"

"It's a place called the Polestar Preschool, just south of here, as I said." Sapphire grinned and thanked the man, before heading south. He ran down the street, grabbing a stop light to make a quick turn to run across the crosswalk, having to dodge around a car, shouting a quick sorry to the driver.

Eventually, he slowed down, looking at a house with the sign next to it reading Polestar Daycare. As he walked up to the door, a little boy playing outside looked over at him. "Are you here to see Willow?"

A park

A blue village

A cage

Ice fire and lightning

A bow atop blonde hair

A… frying pan for some reason

Prayers, in a dark and lonely void

"Thank you for escorting me home, Sapphire."

Sapphire stumbled as a wave of memories that had not happened, and knowledge of will-be's slammed into him. A moment later the knowledge of them was gone except for faint impressions, but Sapphire stood up, confident. Willow. The second Chosen. "Yes."

"She's not here."

Sapphire face-faulted before looking at the kid. "Well, where is she?"

The child shrugged as they bounced their ball. "I don't know. Some people think she was kidnapped though."

"Damn it," Sapphire hissed at himself, before walking away from the building. What was he going to do now? He- Sapphire slowed as another lance of pain shot through his head, before the image of the park appeared in his mind. Why? What was in the park?

Sapphire clenched his fists and shook his head. Well, it was the only lead he had, even if it wasn't a lead at all, and came from inside his own head. As he walked towards the park, he passed by two houses, one with a sign that said 'Apple Kid,' another with a sign that said 'Orange kid.' As he passed by the orange one, several girls were swooning about how the guy inside was a famous inventor, and incredibly smart while the apple one was much more useless.

Sapphire glared at them as he passed. Talking dirty about someone like that was just downright rude. Eventually, he reached the park, and some guy outside the park turned to him. "Y'know, Burglin park is pretty dangerous, but they've got some great stuff there."

Sapphire paused, confused on why someone would just randomly go up and talk to a stranger. Really, who does that? "Uh, why is it dangerous?"

"See that house, near the middle of the park? Yeah, some guy named Everdred lives there. People say he's involved with stuff like robberies and kidnappings."

Sapphire's eyes widened, and he turned towards the house in the distance. Kidnappings? He could be one of the people responsible for kidnapping Willow! "Thanks for the info!" Sapphire jogged into the park, eyes glued to the house. All around him were stalls selling different items, mostly food, but a couple sold regular items, and Sapphire felt his eyes drift to a few cool bracelets.

There was an ATM nearby and Sapphire but his lip, before deciding to take some money out just in case. He was beginning to run low on money anyway. When he inserted his card he saw his father had put more money on like he said he would, meaning he now had five-hundred dollars in his account. He grinned and withdrew three-hundred since most of the items in the market were ridiculously expensive. Seriously, ninety-eight dollars for a bracelet? "What a great economy we have," Sapphire chuckled to himself.

Eventually, he reached the house, well, it was actually more of a shack, and he raised his hand to knock on the door, before

Danger.

Sapphire quickly backed up, readying his bat. Somebody landed in front of him, and Sapphire raised an eyebrow as the guy held his ankle in pain, before jumping up again. The guy had a bizarre outfit on, a bright orange floral shirt and polka-dotted grey pants, along with a bowler hat over some dreadlocks. He grinned at him from below his handlebar mustache, his eyes twinkling behind his tiny sunglasses.

Sapphire narrowed his eyes at the man. "You Everdred? I'd like a chat with you."

"Wahaha!" The man cackled as he hopped back and forth, "why don't we chat later after we've locked horns!"

Sapphire dodged to the side as Everdred threw a punch, knitting his brow. "I don't want to fight, but I will if you force me!" Everdred's only reaction was to wear a large grin, making Sapphire shake his head before rushing him. Everdred dodged his attack by jumping backward, and as Sapphire raised his hands to fire off a PSI Hope, he realized it could hit people in the market.

Instead, he lowered his hand, readying his bat for another attack. Everdred saw him give up on his attack and rushed him, baring his… fangs? He was going to bite him! Sapphire ducked to the side before bringing his bat up and slamming him aside. "Brat!" Before he could get up, Sapphire fired a PSI Hope α, seeing that he wouldn't be endangering bystanders.

The explosion of colors threw up a cloud of dust and Sapphire approached the cloud expecting Everdred to be knocked out, but he was surprised when Everdred jumped out of it. Sapphire wound up, just as Everdred landed a hard punch on his face, _smashing _his bat into Everdred's face.

While Sapphire stumbled back, Everdred _flew _back, slamming into the wall of his shack. Sapphire felt his cheek, wincing at the pain and thinking about using Lifeup, before deciding not to. It was just a bruise, nothing serious. He watched Dverdred struggle to get up, chuckling. "Hey! Are you going to attack me again, Everdred?! Er, if you are Everdred…"

"Yes, I'm Everdred, the boss of Burglin park." He took a step forward and yelped, grasping his foot. Sapphire raised an eyebrow, and Everdred grinned sheepishly. "Heh, I twisted my ankle when I jumped from the roof."

"Didn't seem to affect you during the battle," he muttered. He then held his hand forward and lit it up with PSI Hope. "Now, apparently you know some stuff about burglaries and kidnappings, so how about you tell me if you know where Willow is!"

"I know where Willow is, but I wasn't the one who kidnapped her." Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "She was taken to a hideout in Peaceful Rest Valley

A feeling of… blue washed over him

by some chubby boy and a weird guy in a blue outfit." Sapphire lowered his hand, letting the psychic attack fizzle out. "They said they were going to make her some kind of human sacrifice, they were definitely hard-core strange. I think some wacko religious cult lives where they were taking her."

"What?! I've got to stop them!"

"Good luck kid, Peaceful Rest Valley is to the east of Twoson. If you save her, remember to come back here and see me, yeah? And pack some food, it's a bit of a trip." Sapphire nodded his thanks and ran out of the park. Human Sacrifice? God, what kind of freaks lived there? Well, Everdred did tell him some religious cult lived there…

On his way out of the park, he saw the guy who told him about Everdred hiding behind a sign. When he saw him coming, he motioned for him to get down. Before he could, loud barking drew his attention and he looked towards the source to see a police officer and two police dogs.

Something was off, however. The dogs looked more feral than other police dogs, and the officer himself had some blue aura around him that made his skin look slightly blue. Sapphire lowered his stance slightly, getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was confirmed when one of the dogs noticed him and began sprinting towards him, the other following and the officer in the back, getting out a baton.

Sapphire threw his hand forward, focusing his power. "PSI Hope α!" The bright Attack flew forward and detonated right below the dogs, throwing them back and kicking up dust. Knowing better from his fight with Everdred, he didn't close in, instead backing up so he'd have more time to react if anything shot out of the cloud.

This was confirmed to be the smart thing to do when one of the dogs flew out, looking slightly worse-for-wear. He brought his bat down on the dog's head, making it whine before the other dog shot out and tackled him. He wrestled with it as its jaws snapped for his neck, before throwing a hand against its chest. "PSI Hypnosis α!"

Zap! The dog slumped forward and he threw it off, scrambling to his feet. The first dog was holding its head, the second now asleep, the cop was still recovering from the Hope… and now more dogs were running in. Great. He could launch a Hope to knock them out, but that would waste his energy… and Willow needed his help now!

He couldn't waste any more psychic energy on this battle! Sapphire turned and ran, looking for a place to hide, while mentally checking his reserves. He focused on his energy and guessed he had about half. He wouldn't be getting nauseous or anything like back in Onett anytime soon, but he needed all that he had to beat up that cult.

Eventually, he reached a house and without knocking slammed in through the front door. There was a startled yell from someone inside but he ignored it as he slammed the door closed. There were several thumps as the dogs slammed into the door, and he braced himself to keep it closed. He reached for the locks on the door and closed them, stepping away.

He turned around and saw a chubby kid standing amidst a pile of technological garbage. "Uh… hi. Sorry for barging in like that." He looked around at the house, noting the garbage. "Ah, nice house…"

"Well, it's not like I was expecting a visitor," the kid pointed out, making Sapphire shrug in acknowledgment. "Anyway, I'm Apple Kid, if you didn't see the sign outside." Sapphire nodded, remembering the two houses he'd walked by earlier, and the girls talking about the inventors.

Apple Kid's stomach growled, and Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Haven't eaten in a while?"

"No," he said sheepishly. Sapphire dug around in his bag and pulled out the extra burger he never got around to eating. "Wow, thanks!"

"No problem. Think of it as payment for your front door protecting me from some evil dogs."

"Ah, speaking of payment," Apple kid looked up from the burger he was biting into, "I'm sure you know that I'm an inventor, but I'm running low on funds. If you loan me some money, I can make some inventions, and design some specifically for you."

Sapphire thought about it. If he was going to be out saving the world, there were definitely going to be some problems he'd have to solve with his mind instead of his muscles. And powers. It could be useful to have an inventor helping him out. "Alright, sure. What do you need?"

"Well, two-hundred dollars would be fine…" he smiled sheepishly as Sapphire sputtered. "I know it's a lot, but I promise the first machine I invent I'll give to you."

Sapphire sighed, before reaching for his wallet and grabbing two-hundred dollars. "Here."

"Oh, thanks so much! I won't let you down!" He dove into the pile of garbage, grabbing various prices of metal and began measuring them against each other.

As Sapphire shook his head and turned to leave, he jumped back and brought his bat up when a rat scurried in front of the door. "Gah!" He jumped forward and brought his bat down, but the rat scurried away. Before he could swing again, the rat seemed to hold up its tiny paws in surrender.

(Wait, wait!)

Sapphire lowered his bat, eyeing the rat. While to his ears he had heard squeaks, in his mind he had heard english words. Could he read animal minds now? Maybe he should test on King next time he got home… "What do you want, rat?"

The rat's nose twitched almost looking irritated, and it stood on its hind legs. (I'll have you know I'm a mouse, but I don't have a name yet.)

"Whatever. What do you want?"

(You helped my master and gave him food, so I want to help you. In return for taking care of my master, take this.) he scurried into a pile of machines, before dragging out a cell phone.

"You're… giving me a cell phone?"

(It'll come in handy, I'm sure. But I must be in your way.) the rat scurried away, and Sapphire sighed, exiting the house after checking if the cop and his dogs were gone. Seeing nothing, he exited. As he walked up the road, he reached into his bag absentmindedly, grabbing the cookie that Tracey had given him. Seeing Apple Kid eat his burger made him hungry.

As he bit into the cookie, he paused and lifted a hand to his bruised cheek from the Everdred fight. "You've got to be kidding me." He definitely felt it, the pain in his cheek was vanishing. He checked to make sure he wasn't using Lifeup, and sure enough, his hand wasn't glowing. So there was only one conclusion. "I can heal myself. By eating food."

His eyes turned towards the department store in the distance that most definitely would have multiple food stores, and grinned. First, stock up on food to heal with. Then, Peaceful Rest Valley. "Don't worry Willow," he said as he began jogging, "I'll be on my way soon, just hold out a bit longer!"

* * *

**You know, in Magicant there's a part that implies that Ness has telekinetic powers. So I thought, what if he also had Clairvoyance? After all, Earthbound is a notoriously hard game to find your way through if you're playing it for the first time and aren't using the player's guide or Hint Man. It gives me a good way to move the story along without the character doing something completely random that only a video game player would do, and not someone in real life.**

**For example, There's no point in the game, at least I don't remember if there is, where someone says "Go to Burglin park and fight Everdred." As a player, you'd be exploring and eventually find it on your own, but in real life, when you're hurrying along and trying to save the world plus this new girl that talked to you in your dreams? Why would you randomly explore a park? Plus, I get to do those cool line breaks and type all weirdly without punctuation. That's always fun.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. If you have a suggestion or question or even a comment leave a review, even if that comment is just "nice chapter." Those always make me happy to read. :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Happy-Happy

Chapter Five: Happy-Happy

Sapphire grinned to himself as he hefted his backpack, feeling it bulge against his back, filled with hamburgers. With the power to heal from eating, he was invincible! At least, until he was out of money… He still had two-hundred dollars in his ATM account, but he had spent pretty much all of his on-hand money on food. And then a slingshot, because he needed a ranged attack that wouldn't drain his important psychic energy.

He had it hooked around his belt, alongside a pellet bag. He exited the department store and began heading to the east. Time to go rescue… and now his new phone was ringing. He grabbed the phone and answered, holding it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, this is Apple Kid. I've come up with a new invention which is pretty sweet, so come by Burglin park when you've got time."

"Wha-" Sapphire sputtered for a moment, "How?! It's been… well, I guess it did take the cooks a while to make so many burgers… But still! Hello?" Sapphire put the phone and sighed, making his way back to Apple Kid's house. Seriously, was he saving the world, or going back and forth doing a bunch of fetch quests?

He entered the park and looked around until he found Apple Kid and his mouse sitting in the corner of the park. His mouse looked up as he approached, grumbling- er, squeaking to himself. (Master Apple Kid has been waiting. Please take the invention and leave so we can head home and sleep…)

Sapphire shrugged at the mouse and turned to Apple Kid. "Hey, so you said that you have a new invention for me?"

"Yes! I present to you… the pencil eraser! This machine will eradicate all pencil-shaped objects in just a second! It's incredibly, just don't use it near a shop that sells pencils." He held out what looked like a small silver remote control, and Sapphire looked at it, then Apple Kid with dead eyes.

"Two-hundred dollars. For a pencil eraser." Sapphire breathed in, closed his eyes, and counted down from ten quietly. "Okay. Cool. Fine. I'll be going now."

"If I invent some other brilliant item, I'll call you!" Sapphire quickly walked away, counting back up to ten.

"No attacking innocent people, no attacking innocent people…" he looked down at the silver remote, before sighing and stuffing it into a side pocket of his backpack. "Getting sidetracked for some stupid remote, swear to god…"

He walked back to the northeast, and eventually reached a dirt path leading out of the Twoson, with a small sign pointing east. "'Happy-Happy village ahead!' Well alright then. That's… a name."

As he began walking, some guy in a business suit noticed him and walked over. Sapphire sighed and stopped, waiting for the man to say whatever he was going to say. Seriously, who randomly walks up to strangers to offer tidbits about areas or whatever? It's not like he was living in a video game.

…he suddenly shivered and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up for a second.

"If you go to the east towards Peaceful Rest Valley and Happy-Happy Village, you could run into trouble, so be careful. I've also heard that there are UFO's in the Peaceful Rest Valley."

"Huh. Alright, thanks, Mister." Sapphire walked away, nodding. Normally he would scoff at the thought of UFO's, even if he did love science fiction involving aliens, but considering the fact that he was literally fighting an alien threat, UFO's were expected. Besides the Starman, most of the things he'd fought so far had been corrupted by Giygas, and not actual aliens.

…Except maybe the Antoids? They looked kind of robotic…

Whatever. He continued along the path, enjoying the nice weather as he walked. Soon enough he came upon a cave, with a sign outside it that said 'Peaceful Rest Valley ahead, proceed through cave.' Sapphire nodded and

Danger.

Easily batted away a Ramblin' Evil Mushroom that had tried to sneak up behind him, smushing it. "Not getting poisoned again, thank you very much," he grumbled to himself. He entered the cave, walking through the small corridor. Thank goodness he wasn't claustrophobic.

There was a rustling noise, and Sapphire got ready to fight again but didn't see anything in the cave with him except for a few plant sprouts. Wait…

"If Giygas can make mushrooms evil…" his thought process was confirmed, as a moment later all of the sprouts shot out of the ground, running towards him with tiny green legs. "Of course." Sapphire brought his bag down and crushed one of the sprouts, while several others began kicking at him.

Since they were _plants, _it literally did nothing to him, and he began crushing the rest with ease. However, he suddenly felt tired and stumbled holding his head. He looked down to see that one of the Sprouts was glowing and sucking glowing energy from him. They were draining his psychic energy!

He quickly crushed the Sprout and turned to the rest, only to see that they had planted seeds, which almost immediately grew to a full-sized Sprout. They began draining his energy as well, and he began crushing them, trying to stop them. Eventually, all of them were killed, and Sapphire rested his bat against the floor. Was killing the right term? They weren't exactly alive in the first place, besides being regular plants…

He continued through the cave, bashing aside several more Mobile Sprouts as he did so until he reached an exit. There was a little girl by the entrance playing with some mushrooms, and Sapphire tensed up for a moment, before seeing that they weren't dangerous ones. "I'm collecting mushrooms!"

"Ah, yeah, cool. Just be careful about any moving ones, kid."

"You can't call me kid, you're only a few years older than I am!" Sapphire rolled his eyes and walked away, following a river north. As he walked he heard a weird buzzing and looked around, before

Danger.

Diving to the side, a beam of energy shooting past his head. "Whoa!" Out of nowhere, a small, silver UFO with beady black eyes sped up to him, shooting another beam. He dodged again, and brought his bat down on the enemy, denting it and sending it spinning away. Sapphire grinned and readied his bat again before the UFO suddenly glowed, and its dent popped out. "What?"

He suddenly noticed several Mobile Sprouts running around underneath it, glowing and using Lifeup α to send a stream of energy into the UFO. "Great, they can heal each other," he muttered. "Wait, how do you heal a mechanical object with psychic powers? That's just weird!"

The UFO tried shooting another beam, and he swiftly blocked the beam with his bat, before rushing in and beating up the Sprouts. "Take care of the healers first, then the damage dealers," He reminded himself from years of video gaming. The Sprouts were down, but then the UFO shot out a beam that he couldn't dodge, and he was thrown backward. He managed to catch himself and scrambled to his feet, dodging another beam that barely missed his head.

He jumped forward and brought his bat down, _smashing _the UFO into the ground. He grinned as the machine sputtered, powering down, before it shot one final beam, throwing him onto his butt. "Oh come on!" He grumbled as he got up, wiping himself off. "Not too much damage, don't have to waste a burger or any energy healing," He stopped, his nose twitching before he let off a loud sneeze.

"Really? Now of all times I get sick?! Ugh…" Sapphire hefted his bat and rubbed his nose, already feeling it clog up. Although now that he thought about it, he got sick weirdly fast… Did the… did the UFO somehow give him a cold?!

After walking for a few minutes, and a few more sneezes, he saw a Magic Butterfly and smiled. He used Lifeup α to heal himself, before letting the butterfly rest on an outstretched hand. Sapphire let out a sigh, a smile growing as he relaxed, and when he opened his eyes the butterfly was gone.

He turned to the east and came across a sign and a destroyed bridge across the river. Sapphire frowned and read the sign, "'Cross bridge to Happy-Happy Village.' Wonderful. They destroyed the bridge." He sighed, deciding to head north to see if there was another way to Happy-Happy VIllage.

...That name was still weird.

Eventually, he reached a roadblock. Namely, a large, iron, pencil statue. "What." He walked up to the statue, poking it. Yep. That was metal. Could he skirt around it? He looked down. No, right below was the river, and there was no part of the statue that he could hold on to. He groaned and began thinking he might have to chance the river, before remembering the invention Apple Kid had given him.

"No way this works." He brought out the remote and pointed it at the statue. Then he realized there were no buttons. "How the heck…?" Well, it was a pencil eraser, right? Maybe… He pushed the remote onto the pencil, rubbing up and down. And sure enough, a moment later the Statue began disintegrating.

Within the space of about two seconds, there was no trace of the statue. Sapphire blinked and looked at the remote like device, before putting it away and swearing to never speak of the experience again. He began walking forward before a familiar voice stopped him.

"I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself!" Sapphire began spinning, trying to find out where the photographer was. "Okay, get ready for an instant memory! Look at the camera… ready? Say Fuzzy Pickles!" Sapphire finally found the cameraman, seeing him standing on top of a rock in the middle of the river. He opened his mouth to ask how the hell the guy kept finding him, before he sneezed, slamming his eyes shut.

There was a snap and a flash, and when he opened his eyes, the cameraman was gone. "Okay, I'm pretty sure that my mind can't handle the pressure of saving the world, and is now just making me think that a cameraman is following me around at this point." He shook his head and wiped his nose, before continuing onward.

He reached a small wooden bridge, and carefully crossed it, not wanting to fall in the river. There was one worrying point where he sneezed and almost fell in, but he managed to keep his balance and get to safety on the other side. He sighed and rested on the grass for a moment. When he felt his heart stop pounding like a drum, got up and continued onwards.

The valley itself was interesting to walk through, having several paths up and down, walking between rocky walls and being careful not to fall into the river. He also fought several more UFOs and Mobile Sprouts. After one such battle, Sapphire was resting against a tree, before he sneezed and groaned, banging his head against the tree. "Ugh…" His head was getting stuffy now, just like his nose. It was pretty hard to focus on battling now, if only he had a way to heal effects like sickness like he could heal physical wounds…

He paused when he felt a clank in his mind when he thought the word heal, and quickly focused. Did he learn a new power? Could move things with his mind? Shoot psychic fire?! He looked deep within himself and found his new power. Unconsciously, he spoke the words as he found them, "PSI Healing α…"

He blinked, before sighing as the stuffiness in his head vanished, and he took a deep breath through his nose. "Well, it's not some super awesome offensive power, but I guess it's useful…" He continued on, smiling widely.

Several battles, (And about an hour of walking later,) and Sapphire rested against a tree. He rubbed his feet and stretched, a yawn coming from his lips. There weren't any enemies around, so he could take a short breather, maybe relax for a minute…

Sapphire heard the creaking of tree limbs and smiled as he felt the breeze, before

Danger.

He was smacked aside, unable to move in time as a tree branch slammed into him. "Ah god, what the hell?!" He shot up to his feet and saw that the tree he was resting against was tearing its roots out of the ground, branches waving. Two eyes suddenly opened up, and a wide smile appeared. "Oh, wonderful."

He dodged back as the Territorial Oak tried whacking him with another branch, and he slammed his bat into its side. Its bark cracked, and it whipped another branch at him. He was thrown back and tumbled a few feet before he managed to catch himself. "PSI Lifeup α!"

He glowed and healed, before dodging another tree branch. He needed to keep his distance, the tree was tough! He put his bat away and grabbed his slingshot, shooting several pellets at the Territorial Oak. The tree blocked them with its branches, but several slammed into its eyes. The tree roared, _somehow, _and whipped wildly at him, making him back up again.

"Enough!" Seeing that the tree was taking basically no damage from his attacks, he powered himself up and launched his signature attack. "PSI Hope α!" The psychedelic attack slammed into the tree and exploded, sending branches and bark everywhere. Sapphire grinned and stretched. When more groaning sounded out, he looked shocked at the tree. Its trunk was still mostly intact, but it was glowing for some reason.

"What the heck?" He closed in, raising a hand and rubbing the wood. It was warm to the touch, and it was beginning to glow brightly… "Oh crap." He sprinted away, vaulting behind a rock just as the tree exploded. He shielded his head as the explosion went off, and the rock behind him cracked, flames licking around it and burning him.

He yelped and dropped to the ground, rolling on the ground to put out the fire. When it was out, he grumbled and stood up, dusting off the dirt from his clothing. He looked at the remains of the tree, just to see that: remains. The largest pieces remaining were about a foot long, and there was a small fire spreading through the grass.

"Okay. Avoid Oak trees." Sapphire continued along, placing his slingshot back into his belt. Well, even if they were tough to beat and _literally exploded _when defeated, at least Giygas was getting smarter with his… her? Its? Its troops. At least he felt a lot stronger after beating the thing.

He began walking again, rubbing his back. As long as there weren't any more Oaks, he could probably handle whatever else was thrown at him. "Well, I can only PSI Hope." He stopped, looked around, and slapped himself. "No. That was horrible. Never make that pun again." Oh who was he kidding, he'd totally make that pun again.

* * *

Several hours later, Sapphire was leaning over the edge of a cliff, eyes narrowed as he watched several odd robots beeping and whirring outside a small cabin. He couldn't explain why, but he knew for certain that inside that cabin was Willow. He'd try and jump down, but one, it was way too high and he'd probably injure himself, and two, he barely had any psychic energy left. He'd fought several more Territorial Oaks, and most of his energy was wasted on either Lifeups or Hope.

He sighed and decided to find another way around. He headed south, then east, and eventually found another cave entrance. He walked through, and several snakes immediately began slithering away. He shrugged and walked forward, smacking aside the few that tried to bite him.

When he exited the other side he had to shield his eyes from the sun, before feeling his jaw drop. The village before him…

EVERYTHING WAS BLUE.

The houses, fences, signs, some of the trees, the people were wearing blue clothes! T-shirts, pants, suits! Sapphire rubbed his head, muttering to himself. "Seriously, I love blue probably a lot more than the next guy, hell it's in my name, but this is a bit excessive." He walked forward, past a large banner that had 'Welcome to Happy-Happy Village!' On it.

He wandered into the village, hand on his bat just in case. Most of the people wandering around had vacant gazes and muttered underneath their breath. "Happy-happy, happy-happy…"

Sapphire shivered and continued walking, trying not to meet anyone's gaze. For some reason, the moment he'd entered the village, he'd been feeling… depressed? Like the whole village was sucking the happiness out of him. But it was so happy here… He eventually passed a building and

DANGER.

jumped to the side, as some weirdo in a full blue suit jumped out swinging a paintbrush at him. Sapphire narrowed his eyes and drew his bat, spinning it. He may have just been holding a paintbrush, but something in the back of his mind was screaming that it was dangerous. But… why care?

The Insane Cultist charged at him, paintbrush raised high, and blue paint splattering everywhere. "TURN HAPPY!" He shook his head and dodged the paint, bringing his bat around, slamming it into the cultist's stomach. The man coughed, and Sapphire punched him away. As the man fell back, some of his paint splashed onto his face.

Sapphire immediately brightened up, smiling. He should stay here! Forget his journey, this place was so homey! He should just let the Insane Cultist splash him with more paint… Insane Cultist? Sapphire shook his head and refocused, knocking the Cultist out.

He couldn't lose his head like that again. Something about this place, it drained your happiness and will, and the only way to feel anything is to give in to their wacko religion… as Sapphire walked by some guy in a plain mask, they chuckled to themselves, and said "That overweight kid helped me kidnap Willow! You know, she's hidden in a mountain cabin!"

"Wha-" Sapphire turned. "…which way is that mountain cabin?"

"Oh! Now I've done it! I thought you were one of us! You know I was just joking! Ha ha, just forget about this, okay?" The guy sprinted off.

Sapphire sighed. "Well, now I know she was inside that odd cabin…"

"Happy-Happy!"

"Blue-Blue!"

"Happy-Happy!"

Sapphire shivered and continued making his way through the small village, dodging whatever cultists he could, even as everyone around him creeped him out with their prayers. "There is something seriously wrong with this place…"

DANGER.

Sapphire turned and held his bat up, blocking the strike, but some paint was flicked off the paintbrush and splattered onto his face. "Gah!" Immediately, he smiled. He should just place his weapon down, and let the man paint him blue! It was such a peaceful color, and maybe he could help the cult paint the whole world blue!

Sapphire stumbled back and shook his head. He had to remember they were a cult, stay focused! The Insane Cultist struck again, but Sapphire dodged to the side instead of blocking and whacked the man in the back of the head. He fell forward unconscious, and Sapphire backed away. The sound of "Happy-Happy!" drew his attention, and he looked to see that several more cultists were approaching, paint brushes held high and paint buckets at their side. Luckily they hadn't spotted him yet, so he ran east.

Up ahead he saw a cliff side that helped form the valley the village was in, a small cave entrance leading north, and a small building nearby with the words Blue-Blue Drugstore above the door. Seeing that he wasn't being followed, Sapphire ducked inside to see if they had a bathroom to wash the hypnotic paint off of himself. As he walked inside, he saw a small sign next to it with the words 'All of our products are blessed!' on it.

"Creepy…" He walked inside and went to the counter. "Do you have a bathroom? The older man behind the counter just happily shook his head, gazing into nowhere. "Alrighty then." Sapphire sighed and looked around the store, noting a sports isle. He walked into it and began looking around, noting objects like basketballs, tennis rackets, and other such items. Then his eyes fell onto the baseball bats. Sapphire walked over, examining each one until he found the Sandlot bat.

He grabbed it and lifted it up. He closed his eyes, weighing it, and subconsciously knew it would be stronger than his Tee ball bat. He returned to the counter, making sure to withdraw one-hundred dollars from his ever-growing bank account. "I'd like to purchase this, please."

"Ninety-eight dollars please!"

Sapphire twitched, before sighing and handing over the money. The man smiled and handed him back his two dollars, before pointing to his Tee ball bat. "Would you like to sell us that?"

Sapphire blinked in surprise, before deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Weren't stores made for selling stuff, not buying them? "Uh, sure."

He handed his old bat over, and the man looked it over, nodding. "I can give you twenty-four dollars!" He handed over the money, which Sapphire counted before putting away. "Happy-Happy!"

"Uh, Happy-Happy." He quickly exited the store, shivering. Definitely creepy.

Sapphire walked up to a random person and made sure to keep his hand on his new bat just in case. "Excuse me?" The person he was talking to turned, their eyes glazed. "Um, who do I have to talk to, to join your religion?" He figured whoever was in charge of the weird cult was the one manipulating everybody's minds, and if they weren't, then he'd be getting to Willow, breaking her out, then getting both of them the hell out of Happy-Happy Village.

"Oh, right this way!" The man's smile was too wide, stretching their skin, and their eyes were too squinted, staring through him. He walked away, his gait just a little too fast and upbeat to seem natural, and Sapphire quickly followed, keeping an eye out for anymore Cultists. Or at least, any dressed in full blue suits.

They eventually reached a building larger than most, after Sapphire fought off several more Cultists, raving about happiness of course. During each battle, the guy leading him around completely ignored him falling behind and just kept walking, so Sapphire had to quickly catch up after each fight.

Unfortunately, during some of the fights he was splashed with the odd blue paint, and each time he felt his mind begin to drift, unfocusing in the world around him. Sapphire snapped out of his thoughts when the man leading him turned and gave his weird grin again. "Here we are! Go inside and talk to Mr. Carpainter, I'm sure you'll be very happy-happy with our religion!"

"Uh, yeah… happy-happy…" Sapphire smiled weakly as the man wandered away, before turning and entering the building. Almost immediately Sapphire felt regret since the first thing that greeted him upon entry was a _horde _of cultists standing in place, muttering 'Happy, Happy, Blue, Blue,' over and over again.

"Ooookay." Sapphire began weaving his way through them, bringing his bat out just in case. There were several rows he could move through but eventually came across a cultist. He just stood there muttering to himself as Sapphire watched on before Sapphire cleared his throat. "Uh, Sir?"

"Blue, Blue. What do you want? We're in the middle of prayer!"

"Uh, I want to see Mr. Carpainter? To join your religion!"

"Okay, I'll move out of your way. Go quickly!" He moved aside, and Sapphire made his way through. This continued for several more of the cultists, including one that muttered about the color green, before admitting they were new to the whole thing. About halfway through the room, One of the Cultists looked at him, seeming to stare through him even harder than any of the others.

"You are Sapphire!" Sapphire's mouth dried up and jumped back as the guy tried to swipe at him with paint. The whole cult must have been influenced or started by Giygas, that was why they knew his name and kidnapped Willow specifically! "Don't go to heaven!" Sapphire dodged the guy's paint splatter, which hit another Cultist, drawing them into the fight.

Sapphire took out the first with a headshot from his new bat and dodged a paint splash from the second. "PSI Hypnosis α!" The second guy fell flat on his face, and to make sure that he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, he slammed his Sandlot bat down onto them. He continued through the room, trying to keep his head down whenever talking to a cultist so they wouldn't realize who he was.

When he neared the back of the room, the horde cleared up a bit, except for a few cultists wandering in a circle and muttering. Sapphire made sure to steer clear of them until one noticed him and attacked. Luckily none of the rest noticed, too busy with their prayers. "Turn blue!"

"After this, I'm changing my name to something else. Saffron, maybe," He muttered to himself. The Cultist swiped at him, but Sapphire knew how to fight the cultists by now, and easily dodged, swinging his bat and knocking them back. But before he could knock them out, they yelled and threw their paint bucket at him. Sapphire gasped, backing up. That much paint would put him under in an instant, and he had no way of shielding it!

Shield, shield, shield

Within his mind, another lock shattered

"Shield α!" A psychic shield, similar to the one Buzz Buzz had used, sprung up in front of him. The paint splashed against it, and while some got through and splashed onto him, most rebounded onto the floor. Sapphire stumbled as the usual effects of the paint attacked his mind, before he pushed through, and _smashed _the Cultist aside.

With the battle done, Sapphire examined himself, to see the shield fading away. He nodded and continued towards the doors to the back of the room. When he entered, some guy with glasses and a mustache looked up. "Hello, do you have an appointment with Mr. Carpainter?"

"No, but I'd like to arrange one," Sapphire smirked and hefted his bat. "Sapphire, the Chosen One."

"Why do you have a bat?"

"Wha- oh for crying out loud, I'm just going up!" Sapphire stomped his way up the stairs that were at the back of the room. The nerve of the guy, to ignore his awesome introduction… He kicked open the doors at the top, and stepped into a purely blue room, ignoring the hairs that were standing up on his arms. Walls, ceiling, podium, even the outfit that Carpainter wore was a deep shade of blue. Except for one thing: A golden, horned statue, that stood atop the podium behind Carpainter.

"Lier's statue," He whispered. How was it here? Did Lier sell it? No, that wasn't important right now. He turned his attention to Lier, who was admiring the statue. "Carpainter," he called.

"Ah, Thanks for coming!" Carpainter turned, glasses shining in the light. "I've been waiting for you!"

"You certainly knew how to get me here," Sapphire replied.

"I need your assistance to make the world blue and change it into a happy and peaceful society!"

"You know, I'm pretty sure that kidnapping people isn't making the world more peaceful! Especially when they're Chosen Ones, who need to stop Giygas!"

Carpainter laughed, "Miss Willow will become the High Priestess of Happy-Happyism, and you can become my right-hand assistant! What do you say?"

"Oh sure, I love the color blue!" Sapphire dropped the sarcastic grin. "Yeah, no. Now, how about you lead me to where you're keeping Willow, and I'll think about not taking down you and your whole religion!"

"Well if you don't want to be my right-hand, my left would be fine…" Sapphire face-palmed. "Just kidding! Your existence is a problem for me and my religion. Defy me, and I'll end your pitiful game!" Sapphire yelled and charged, while Carpainter laughed and raised his arms.

DANGERDANGERDANGER, MOVEMOVEMOVE!

Sapphire's mind began screaming at him and Sapphire screeched to a halt, just as he realized why his arm hairs were standing on end ever since he'd entered the room. It wasn't because he was intimidated or scared… Lighting began shooting around the room, weaving around Carpainters arms, and then shot towards him. "Oh crap." Sapphire raised his arms to shield himself before the lightning slammed into him and he was thrown backward and smashed through the side of the building.

Sapphire slammed into the ground a story below and groaned, feeling pain wrack his body. "P-PSI Lifeup α…" His body began healing, although luckily he didn't have many surface wounds, and those were just from smashing through the wood and falling to the ground. His heart was hammering a mile a minute though, probably an effect of the lightning.

Sapphire slowly got up, just as a group of Insane Cultists rounded the corner of the building. "There he is!"

"PSI Hope α," he muttered, not wanting to deal with them. The ground erupted beneath them, and they were all sent flying. Sapphire grimaced and held his head, feeling it throb. He was running low on energy… but he'd only used a Lifeup and a Hope so far… maybe the lightning had drained him? Either way, he needed to get somewhere to rest up, and fast.

He heard the thudding of feet, and he began running, thinking of the mental map he'd made of the village. He remembered a small cave entrance near the drugstore, he could probably hide in there!

DANGER.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!"

Sapphire ducked under the paintbrush, and scrambled back up, bashing the Cultist in the back. "Yeah, no." He continued running, passing by a food stand. He slid to a stop, grabbed an egg, and chucked it at a Cultist following him. The guy yelled and tried to wipe his eyes, letting Sapphire knock them out, and continue running.

Sapphire eventually saw the cave entrance up ahead and sped into it, after making sure that no one had seen him enter. When he got deep enough inside that no one looking in could see him he sighed, and fell back against the wall. "Well great, now what?"

With Carpainter being able to control lightning, he didn't stand a chance! He should probably just find where Willow is himself, then break her out and escape with her. Maybe later on in their journey, he could come back when he is stronger, and defeat Carpainter then. The only problem now was _finding _Willow.

Sapphire stilled when he heard footsteps, before grabbing his bat and standing up. Sure enough, around a corner came two Cultists, who paused upon seeing him, before then charging with their paintbrushes held high. "We won't allow you to take our High Priestess!"

Sapphire's eyes widened, before grinning. Looks like he'd found Willow! "Outta the way!" Sapphire _smashed_ one aside and winced as the other one managed to get some paint on him, before forcing his way through the delusions that entered his mind to bash the other one in the side of their head. With both knocked out, Sapphire ran through the caves, another two Cultists waiting for him.

"There he is!"

Sapphire skid to a stop, but not before they managed to dump their buckets onto him. Sapphire's eyes widened before his mind went under.

Happy

Happy happy happy

So happy

Blue and happy and blue and happy

Stay happy

"Sa—h—e!"

No, ignore her

Be happy

"—pphi-e!"

Someone was calling him

No no no no no

Stay happy

"Sapph—e!"

Someone needed him

No, they don't

Be happy and blue and happy and blue and happy and blue and happy and blue

"-apph-re!"

He had to wake up!

**NONONONONONO!**

"SAPPHIRE!"

She needed him!

Sapphire's eyes shot open glowing, and he snarled. "Willow! PSI HOPE α!" The cave erupted, and both Cultists were thrown to the side. Sapphire got up and tried wiping as much of the blue paint off of him as he could before he began searching for an exit. After a few minutes of stumbling through the tunnels, he eventually reached an exit.

He squinted through the sunlight as he looked out, before grinning when he realized he was looking at the backside of the cabin he'd seen earlier while still traveling through Peaceful Rest Valley. He then frowned as he heard whirring, and saw the odd robots as they stood in front of the cabin. They were completely silver and grey, and very smooth, with a single red eye and two odd arms on either side. Their arms spun around their bodies as they stood there, eyes flashing.

Sapphire cracked his neck, before moving around the house to sneak up on them from behind. Now that he could see all of them he saw that there were only three, and he focused on the one closest to him. He snuck up behind it, and quickly wound up, before slamming his bat into the back of its head. It flew forward and skidded on the ground, before he leaped up and brought his bat down, breaking it apart.

The other two Spinning Robos turned, and quickly charged up, firing beams from their eyes. Sapphire dodged them clumsily, before bringing his arms forward. "Shield α!" The next few beams rebounded off, and Sapphire quickly approached, bashing the first Robo's arms off. It whirred backward in panic before its body glowed and created a shield of its own. "That's cheating!"

He yelled and tried bashing its head in, but his arms shook as he rebounded away. Both robots slowly approached, and Sapphire rolled to his feet. "Enough! PSI Hope α!" The ground exploded, and metal scrap was thrown everywhere. Sapphire backed away, and when he saw that the robots were destroyed, turned and ran towards the house.

He turned the doorknob and was surprised when it wasn't locked before shrugging and interior of the cabin looked pretty normal… well, about half of it anyway. The other half was cordoned off by several large jail-cell like bars, and a single iron door. On the other side of the bars, a pretty girl with blonde hair, a red ribbon, and a pink dress, sat on the floor.

Sapphire's mind clicked

Memories that would be flashed by

"Willow!" The girl looked up, and immediately her face brightened into a large smile.

"Sapphire, it's you!" She got up and approached the bars, placing her hands around them. "I sensed you were nearby and in trouble, but I don't know you were _that _close! What happened?"

"Their weird magic paint was pulling me under, I'm lucky you were able to pull me back out. And hey, I can't exactly leave a damsel in distress!" Sapphire grinned and approached. "But If you have PSI like me, why didn't you bust out of here?"

Willow shook her head, blonde locks waving. "Something about this cabin prevents PSI from having any effect. I could still call out to you telepathically, but trying to attack did nothing… besides that, by staying here I knew for sure we would meet!"

Sapphire looked at the bars and bit his lip, before motioning for her to stand back. "Maybe it'll do more on this side! PSI Hope α!" They both coughed and waved their hands to clear the smoke, but just as Willow said, the bars and even the wood weren't even scratched. "Damn, there goes the plan of busting you out…"

"You'll have to get the key from Mr. Carpainter," Willow said.

"The dude controls lightning, I don't stand a chance!"

Willow shook her head and pulled a badge off of her dress. She handed it over, and Sapphire looked at it, before pinning it to his own shirt. "What is it?" The badge was a small white badge, with a blue lightning bolt in the center and a brown outline.

"It's the Franklin Badge, it'll be able to ward off lightning, so you can beat him!" She crossed her arms and pouted. "I just wish I could go with you, so I could give that guy what-for for locking me in here!"

Sapphire snickered and tapped his bat against the bars. "Well, after I get you out of here, we'll find some other criminals to beat up! As the Chosen Duo!"

"I'd like that," she grinned back. She frowned when, as he turned to leave, he stumbled, before shaking himself. "Are you alright?"

"I'm a bit worn out… I use a lot of PSI on my Hopes, and I think Carpainter's lightning drained me…

"You should rest here, I can keep watch and warn you if anyone is coming." Sapphire smiled and nodded, before taking off his backpack and leaning back against the bars. Willow took off his hat and began brushing her hand through his hair, singing softly. Her beautiful voice helped make Sapphire relaxed, and a feeling of contentedness began flowing over him.

"_Take a melody,_

_Simple as can be, _

_Give it some words and,_

_Sweet harmony._

_Raise your voices_

_All day long now _

_Love grows strong now _

_Sing a melody of Love, oh Love…"_

* * *

**I would have made this chapter longer since I was so into it while writing, but this felt like a natural and good stopping point. So it was either stop here or continue writing a few thousand more words and delay this coming out. **

**And yep, that was the Mother One version of the Eight Melodies. That song is always nice to listen too, and since I was listening to it while writing the end of this chapter, I thought I'd put it in.**

**Gotta say, one of the better localizations between the Japanese and English versions is that instead of Willow saying she would have started crying if you hadn't come, she says that she would have bust out of there. Not sure if it's an accident due to "Nakidasu" "****泣き出す****" (to start crying,) being read as "Nigedasu" "****逃げ出す****" (to break free, break loose, make a break for freedom,) but either way I think it's pretty cool.**

**Also, yes, I did use your pun in this chapter. You know who you are! I PSI Hope you're proud of yourself!**


	6. That's not Very Blue-Blue of you

Chapter Six: That's not Very Blue-Blue of you

Sapphire awoke to somebody shaking him and opened his eyes to see Willow looking down at him, hair framing her face and tickling the sides of his. "Gah!"

She giggled. "Wake up, sleepyhead." She smiled as he sat up, stretching. "You've been asleep for a while. Feeling better?"

Sapphire groaned as he felt several cracks as he stretched, and nodded. "Definitely. I feel energized!"

"Good," she replied. "I heard talking outside, so somebody might be coming in soon."

"I'll go take care of them, then Carpainter. In the meantime, here." He reached into his bag and pulled out one of the burgers. "They probably haven't been feeding you any good food since you've been here." Willow's eyes lit up, and she took the burger.

"Thanks!" She quickly began eating, and Sapphire zipped up his bag and exited the cabin. what was outside made him stop in his tracks, surprised.

"Pokey?"

The fat boy turned, his wide cheeky smile growing even larger once he saw him. Behind him stood two Cultists and one of the crows from the beginning of his journey, it's grim eerily similar to Pokey's. "Sapphire!" He stepped forward, while Sapphire did the same grabbing his bat warily.

"What are you doing here, Pokey? Heck, when did you even leave Onett?"

"Now, don't worry about that!" His annoying voice grated Sapphire's ears, and he narrowed his eyes as he watched the Cultists and crow. "But you! You probably just came here to bother me!"

"Pokey, what the hell are you- wait… Are you the one that helped kidnap Willow?!"

"Yep! By the way, you can call me Master Pokey now, after all, Mr. Carpainter made me a very important person in Happy-Happyism!"

"Pokey, what happened? You're way too lazy to do something like this…" As much as Pokey would always annoy him, he was, at the least, somebody he'd known for years, even if 'friend' was pushing it. If Pokey was being controlled by Carpainter, then he needed to help him.

Pokey shook his head, grabbing a cookie from his back pocket. "You know, you should join us… But I know you won't. I, at least, am glad I joined!"

"Pokey, make the cultists go away, and we'll talk."

"Hm. I don't think so, Sapphire."

"Then I have no choice." Sapphire readied his bat. Beating things up usually freed them from Giygas' control, so hopefully, the same logic would apply to people controlled by Carpainter. After all, Carpainter was being controlled by Giygas, right?

"I'm not going to fight you, but these guys will… Later potater." Pokey immediately ran off faster than Sapphire thought he could, and the Cultists jumped forward.

"Happy-Happy!" Sapphire jumped aside, before swinging and knocking the legs out from underneath one of them, and slamming his Sandlot bat down on their head. One down.

The crow cawed and tried to scratch him, but with how much stronger and faster he was now than at the start of his journey, he easily knocked the crow out of the air with a single hit. It bounced off the ground with a sickening crack, before glowing and lying still. "Sorry," he muttered. Humans at least were more resilient than any animals corrupted by Giygas, the most damage he'd done to a human so far was breaking a few bones probably.

The final Cultist yelled and tried to throw his bucket, but Sapphire shoulder rushed them and held out his bat in a bunting position, knocking the wind out of them and throwing them onto their back. He slammed his foot down and knocked them out, before looking for Pokey. Sure enough, he was gone, but Sapphire could guess where he went.

"Here I come, Carpainter." Sapphire began jogging back towards the village, making his way through the caves. There was a crack, and suddenly Sapphire was thrown onto his back, holding his forehead. Above him, a Cultist was holding their paintbrush, having used the handle to whack him.

Sapphire growled and rolled to the side, dodging a splash of paint, before bashing them upside the head. They went down easily, and Sapphire made the rest of the way through the caverns cautiously. When he made it out, he began walking normally again, passing by a boy who was standing by another cave and muttering something about a place deep in the cave and how he was uneasy.

Sapphire paused, remembering how people said that Giant's step was a strange and unusual place, and decided to talk with the boy. "Excuse me, what's down there?"

The boy shook his head. "It's a strange and anti-blue place called Lilliput steps. But for some reason, nobody can get close to it, although nobody would really want to anyway…" Sapphire hummed and nodded, thanking the boy. He might have to check that out later, it sounded like it could be a Sanctuary, but he wasn't sure.

As he neared the large building that Carpainter and the majority of the Cultists resided in he breathed deeply, readying himself. "Let's do this." He kicked down the front doors, and while there were a lot fewer Cultists inside, none of them were praying, so they all spotted him at once. "Take me to your leader!"

"HERETIC!" They all charged, and he began preparing a Hope. While he didn't want to waste any PSI before he fought Carpainter, he knew that they would probably be waiting for him, and the best way to take them all out would be all at once, with one massive attack. He grinned, and his arms began glowing the familiar colors of his signature attack before he threw them forward.

"PSI Hope α!"

ZAP!

The large room was bathed in reds, yellows, and blues as all the Cultists were thrown about from the explosion. Most of them were instantly knocked unconscious, while a few tried to get back up, only to fall back down. Sapphire took a step forward, eyes focused on the doors on the other end of the hall, only to fall to his knees. It wasn't in pain however, well, partly.

Having defeated several dozen Cultists with a single attack, when they all flashed and transferred their strength, or at least that's how Sapphire _assumed_ he got stronger from beating opponents, it was overwhelming. His body flashed, he felt his muscles coil and there was another snapping sound deep in his mind with the word _paralysis _echoing over and over, but most of all…

"CRAMP!" Sapphire fell over and rubbed his calf, rolling over himself as he tried to work the cramp out. His muscles tensing that much _hurt!_ "Ow ow ow ow…" he got up and hopped around shaking out his leg. "There goes my cool entrance. Ah, piss that hurts…"

He approached the back of the room, all the while focusing on his mind. Paralysis? Now that sounded useful. He might have to try it on Carpainter if he still proved to be trouble even with the Franklin Badge. He shoved through the doors and the receptionist guy screamed, making Sapphire roll his eyes and ignore him.

At the top of the stairs, Sapphire breathed in and out, before kicking down the doors. Again. Carpainter was back to admiring the statue, cleaning off an imaginary stain. When he heard the doors slam open he turned, grinning. "Ah, and so you've returned!"

"And you're still ugly!" Sapphire walked to the center of the room in front of the podium and narrowed his eyes. In the back of his mind, he idly noticed that instead of his arm hairs standing up due to the static electricity in the room, there was a barely visible field of lightning around him due to the Franklin Badge, apparently. "One last chance Carpainter, give up now!"

"Oh ho, I was going to ask the same thing to you! What do you say? You could be a High Priest right beside High Priestess Willow!"

"Weren't you ever told that no means no?" Sapphire let a Hope power-up along his arm, lighting it up.

"Hm. Then I have no choice! Begone!" Lightning crackled, and a moment later it became visible, large strands ready to strike him down. Sapphire readied himself, although, given the fact that his mind wasn't screaming for him to run for cover, he would trust in the Franklin Badge.

A moment later and the lightning slammed into him, only for it to swirl around his skin, concentrate on the Franklin Badge, and get thrown back at Carpainter. Carpainter ducked, letting it fly over his head, before standing back up and stroking his goatee. "Huh… what could have caused that…"

Sapphire grinned. "Your lightning has no effect on me!"

Carpainter's grin turned into a frown before it became almost feral, the light of the Man- Sapphire winced- whatever the statue was, causing the shadows to mold around him ominously. "Let's try this again!" More lightning formed around him, before shooting at Sapphire.

Sapphire charged and let the lightning be absorbed into the badge before being reflected, shocking Carpainter. As he backpedaled and yelled in pain, Sapphire swung his bat and slammed it into Carpainter. He fell back, his heavyset form slamming into the statue before he dodged to the side to avoid his next strike.

Sapphire wavered slightly as he neared it, greedy thoughts beginning to fill his head. Perhaps after this battle, he could keep the statue for himself… although it might be hard to carry, maybe he could force someone to do it…

"_Hey Sapphire, maybe you should refocus on Mr. Carpainter."_

"What the heck?! Whoa!" Sapphire dodged a paintbrush strike, before looking around. "Willow?!"

"_No, I'm not there, I'm still in the cabin. I'm using telepathy to talk with you. Your mind was getting weak for some reason, so I was able to talk with you as I could when you were asleep."_

Sapphire let the Franklin Badge reflect another lightning bolt, "Might be because of that statue… there's something seriously wrong about it…"

"_What statue?"_

Sapphire charged forward and sidestepped a paint swipe, slamming his bat into Carpainter's stomach. "Nevermind that, do you mind helping keep me lucid if my mind gets weak again during the battle?"

"_No problem!"_ Sapphire grinned and popped his neck. Looks like he now had some help with Carpainter's… paint!

"Why is this not working?! Crashing Boom Bang attack!" Lightning shot from him once again, which Sapphire completely ignored.

"Crashing Boom Bang attack? That's the lamest thing I've ever heard!" He swung his bat at Carpainter's face, but he growled in response and blocked with his paintbrush. Some paint flicked off and Sapphire winced, letting Carpainter break the stalemate and splash more paint on him.

Sapphire clinched backward and tried to wipe it off, while Willow kept talking into his mind to keep him anchored. Carpainter's personal paint seemed much more potent since his mind was still partially drifting off even with Willow's help. "_Come on Sapphire, you don't want to get beaten by a fat guy with a paintbrush do you?"_

Sapphire snorted and stumbled back to his feet, jumping aside as another paint strike flew by. Carpainter overextended and stumbled forward, so Sapphire took the opportunity and _smashed _Carpainter backward, throwing him back into the statue. The statue tilted back a moment before Carpainter frantically grabbed at it to prevent it from falling over. "Geez, he's more worried about the statue than himself… I guess if it isn't damaged it'll be worth more for me…"

"_No, bad Sapphire."_

"Ah, right." If was probably best to not take any chances. He looked into his mind for his newest power, before throwing his hand forward "PSI Paralysis α!" His arm glowed a dull yellow, almost orange color, and he snapped out several low power lightning bolts. They impacted with Carpainter and he yelped as small bolts of electricity ran across his body. "Huh. I almost expected that to not work, since he uses lightning."

"_It's not like he's immune to his own."_

"Fair point." Carpainter struggled to move, and instead sent out another… ugh… Crashing Boom Bang attack, which Sapphire just raised an eyebrow at. It quickly rebounded and sent Carpainter to the ground. "You'd think he'd figure out that that isn't working. Had enough Carpainter?" Carpainter didn't respond, laying before the statue. "Carpainter? Oh god, did I kill him?!" Sapphire ran up and tried checking on Carpainter's pulse,

Danger.

only for him to shoot up and grab the Franklin Badge off of his shirt. Sapphire jerked back, startled, before realizing what he'd done and leaped forward. "Give that back!"

Carpainter splashed him with paint and he flinched back, letting Carpainter gather lightning for one final blast. Sapphire looked on in fear, before jumping forward and slamming his hands into Carpainter's stomach in a last ditch effort to take him down before he could be shocked to death. "PSI Hope α!"

"YEOW!" The explosion threw both of them apart, and Sapphire scrambled back to his feet as soon as he could. The lightning was still crackling around the room, so Sapphire looked around for the Franklin Badge until he spotted it lying on the ground several feet away. Sapphire ran forward and dove for it, grabbing it just as the lightning shot towards him.

DANGERDANGERDANGER!

"_Sapphire, look out!" _Sapphire grit his teeth and lifted up the Franklin Badge, hoping that it would still work even when it wasn't attached to his clothing. Sure enough, the electricity slammed into the badge and began swirling around it, before it launched back at Carpainter's rising form. He screamed as lightning coursed through his body, before he fell back into the statue, knocking it over onto the ground with a _crash!_

Sapphire walked forward and brought his bat up, wary. "It's over carpainter, give it up."

"I… lost…" Carpainter was looking down glumly. Sapphire nodded, clipping the Franklin badge back onto his shirt, but as he did Carpainter suddenly jumped up, dumping a whole bucket's worth of paint onto him. "Haha! Just kidding! Now child, what do you think about joining us?"

"_SAPPHIRE!"_

Sapphire could barely hear either of them, his mind gone.

"Join us!"

"Happy-happy!"

"We'll turn the whole world blue!"

"We'll be together forever!"

"_Don't give in Sapphire!"_

Carpainter nodded as he walked around Sapphire's body, which looked to be in a state of unconsciousness, although while still standing. His entire upper body was colored blue, and the paint was dripping down and staining his pants and legs. "I suppose that's that then. Tell me, are you happy now?"

"Happy…" Sapphire murmured, eyes unfocused, staring into nothing. "I… I am…"

"_Sapphire, think of your family! Do you have any siblings? Pets? Think about them, you have to fight!"_

"I… Blue… the world will be… they will be happy…"

"_No, they won't! Fight Sapphire! For me, for yourself, for your family! For the world!"_

"Happy… I… am… I am…" Carpainter's grin grew. "I AM NOT!" And then quickly vanished, replaced by a look of terror. Sapphire raised his bat and slammed it into Carpainter's face, sending his glasses spinning away and shattering against a wall. He raised his bat and beat him over and over until Carpainter threw him away with a yell.

"ENOUGH! Child, you have angered me for the last time! How dare you disrespect Happy-Happyism like this!" Sapphire growled as Carpainter glowed for a moment before his wounds healed, and a shield appeared around his body. From the looks of it, it was a physical shield, not a psychic one. So he could heal himself and protect himself then? He'd need to take him down in one shot. Luckily, he had just the thing.

"Oh, have I made the blue man angry?! Look and see if I care! Your religion is just one big scam, a hoax!" Carpainter growled, and lightning began swirling around the room. "And if I'm lying, then strike me down! Pit the power of your religion against a thirteen-year-old boy with a baseball bat!"

"You dare?!" Carpainter began glowing as the lightning swirled around him, growing brighter than any of the previous bolts. "For your arrogance, you will be turned to ash!"

"Yeah?! Then come at me! I'll tear you and your religion apart!" Carpainter screamed a scream of pure rage before light filled the room. Sapphire grit his teeth as bolts of electricity slammed into him over and over, and even with him digging his heels into the floor he was being pushed back. He felt the badge on his shirt begin to grow hotter with each strike, and he said a quick prayer that the Franklin Badge wouldn't give out. Eventually, after dozens of bolts had impacted, it stopped.

"W-what?!"

Sapphire grinned and stood tall, showing the brightly glowing Franklin Badge. "Uh oh, did someone miscalculate?! Say hello to my little friend~!" The badge exploded, thankfully not literally, and Carpainter was thrown back, his scream drowned out by the sound of the explosion.

After the room became quiet, Sapphire approached the fallen statue and Carpainter, who was lying on the ground, shocked in the literal and figurative sense. "I…"

"Hey, if you're faking being defeated again it won't work." Sapphire kept his distance and lit up his palms. "I don't make the same mistake twice. Well, maybe three or four times."

"...No. It's over." Carpainter slowly got up, groaning. "Do you… see the Mani-Mani statue behind me?" Sapphire winced as the name of the statue slammed into his brain and didn't let go before he nodded.

"Y-yeah, what about it?"

"It… since I've acquired it, I've been doing peculiar things…"

Sapphire narrowed his eyes. "Don't think that you can escape punishment by claiming that you were mind-controlled by a statue! That's impossible!"

"Please forgive me, if you can… I… I just wanted to live a normal life…" he began crying, begging. "Please, I'll apologize to everyone!"

"_Sapphire, I believe him…"_

Sapphire looked at him, shock and confusion fighting with anger before he sighed. "Alright, call me an idiot but… I believe you." He felt warmth in his head and assumed that was Willow smiling, or something like that.

Carpainter gave him a grateful smile, before rooting around in his shirt and grabbing a golden key. "Here, this is the key to the door of Willow's cell, in the mountain cabin where she's being held."

Sapphire nodded and took the key, before helping Carpainter to his feet. "Can you heal yourself?"

"I… don't think so. I wasted all of my energy on the last Crashing Boom Bang attack, and even if I didn't I don't think I have my powers anymore…"

"Hm." Sapphire placed a hand on Carpainter's shoulder, even if he had to jump to do so considering how tall the adult was, and quickly used Lifeup. "There. I suggest you get rid of that statue."

"Right. And thank you again, for freeing me of that curse."

Sapphire grinned. "No problem. That's what heroes do!" Sapphire turned to make a dramatic exit and tripped over a piece of rubble that was shaken loose from the lightning explosion. "Damn world, trying to ruin my dramatic exits…"

After he walked down the stairs, he entered the large main room of the building, to see various Cultists taking off their robes and exiting the building. Several of them spotted him and ran over, thanking him.

Sapphire awkwardly patted one woman on the head as she cried into his shoulder, before he handed her to another guy, and quickly made his way out of the building before any other men or women could start crying on him.

When he exited the building he stretched, before spitting as a bit of blue paint got into his mouth. "Ptha! Ugh, after I get Willow I'm finding someplace to wash off." The sound of running made him turn his head, and his eyes widened when he saw Pokey appear before him.

"Sapphire, oh what a horrible nightmare! I somehow woke up from it, was that because of you?!"

"I think so. Anyway, how'd you get here? If you were under Carpainter's control, he would have had to gotten paint on you, and he couldn't do that if you were still in Onett…"

"Let's not worry about that, let's just go back to being friends!" Sapphire rolled his eyes and brushed his hair back sighing.

"Sure, whatever. Just get back to Onett safely, all right?"

"You got it, best buddy!" He began backing up slowly and Sapphire watched him confused, before he suddenly yelled, "Hah, I lied! See you, sucker!" Pokey suddenly ran off, and Sapphire sped around the side of the house looking at his retreating form.

"Wha- Pokey, wait!" Somehow, his heavyset form was fast, and he quickly vanished into the distance. "What? But… I thought he was under Carpainter's control…" Sapphire shook his head and decided to think on it later. Right now, he needed to free Willow.

As he made his way through the village everyone thanked or hugged him, and a small smile grew. He'd done some real good here. So many people under control, now free to live their lives. It was definitely something to be proud of.

Eventually, he reached the cabin Willow was in and opened the front door. Willow looked up when he entered and smiled when he held up the key. "Sapphire, I knew you could do it! Are you hurt?"

"I've got a few bruises, but nothing too bad." Sapphire shook his head. "Thanks for your help in the battle, by the way."

"Of course! Although after Mr. Carpainter splashed you with paint and I helped free you, I wasn't able to do much, since that really strained my mind…"

"Hey, if you hadn't helped then I'd just be another Cultist in Carpainter's army and a pretty strong one at that." He placed the key in the lock and turned, before opening the door. When it opened, Willow came walking out and stretched, a teddy bear that Sapphire hadn't noticed before clutched in her hand.

When she was done stretching she spun and smiled at him. "You're just as heroic as I imagined you'd be, Sapphire!" She jumped forward and poked him on the nose, giggling as she got some paint on her hand. "So, What now?"

"First, we get some rest. It's almost night, and I need to wash myself off. After that? We find some Sanctuaries and save the world! Oh, and find the other Chosen Boys."

Willow giggled and nodded, both of them exiting the cabin. "So do you know where the next Sanctuary is?"

"I have an inkling. After that, though, I'm not sure. We'll definitely be leaving Twoson though, and explore farther out."

"Alright. Although I have to go and say goodbye to my family, as well as tell them that I'm all right."

"Of course. But I don't think we'll get back to Twoson before the sun goes down. We should find someplace to stay in Happy-Happy Village."

"That should be easy. You're a hero!"

Sapphire rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed. Before he could say anything, they heard the noise of footsteps and both kids looked over to see the blonde photographer, setting up his camera. "Pictures taken instantaneously! I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself!"

"How do you keep finding me?!"

"Sapphire, who is that?"

"Get ready for an instant memory! Ready? Say, Fuzzy Pickles!" Willow suddenly grasped Sapphire's arm, sticking her tongue out and smiling at the camera. Sapphire just shook his head and gave a weak grin as he held up a V with his fingers. A snap and a flash later, and the photographer was gone.

"That guy weirds me out," Sapphire muttered. Willow giggled and began leading him through the caves back to Happy-Happy village."Anyway, What kind of psychic powers do you have?"

"I have some pretty neat combat PSI! It's actually pretty deadly, but I never got much practice with it because I've never really used it before."

"That's fair I guess. But I'm sure you'll get good fast. I mean, I only got my powers really recently, and already I have a bunch of different abilities!"

"I guess so! Besides that, I have my telepathy and some telekinesis."

"Telekinesis?" Willow demonstrated, setting her teddy bear down and making it walk around while waving its hands. "Awesome!"

"I can only use it on something that isn't alive, and only small objects, so I can't really move enemies around. I can use Mr. Teddy as a shield though!"

Sapphire laughed, "How brave of Mr. Teddy to protect us like that!" Willow giggled back, and they continued the walk through the cave laughing.

When they got back to the village, Sapphire tapped a person on the shoulder, "Excuse me, is there any hotel or something nearby?"

They were directed towards a nearby house, and when they entered, a rotund man sitting at a table looked up, and upon seeing Sapphire immediately scrambled to his feet. "Mr. Sapphire, you grace my abode with your presence!"

"Uhh…" Willow giggled at Sapphire's response. "We just need a place to stay, if that's alright…"

"Of course, of course! And because you saved the village, you can stay free of charge!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, of course! Right this way!" He led them upstairs to a small room with two beds.

"Thanks. Now I just need to clean my clothes." Sapphire muttered the last part to himself, but the man overheard and beamed at him.

"We have washing machines and dryers!"

"Oh. Uh, thanks. I'll just… change into something and you can wash my stuff…" the man grinned and nodded, exiting the room. "Geez."

Willow laughed, "you don't like being treated like a hero?"

"Well, it feels like I'm taking advantage of their generosity…" Willow shrugged back at him, so he just stretched, grimacing at the paint sticking his clothes to his skin. "Do you want to shower first? You must have gotten dirty by being stuck in that cell."

"It's fine, you're the one that's literally blue."

"True enough," he drily replied. He grabbed his pajamas from his bag, after removing several hamburgers and grumbling, before heading for the bathroom. One quick shower later, and he was dressed in his pajamas sitting in bed, cleaning his baseball bat while his clothes were washed.

Eventually, Willow exited the bathroom wearing a spare set of pajamas Sapphire had since she didn't have any when she had been kidnapped. Sapphire snickered slightly since the clothes looked slightly too big on her body since she was a bit shorter than him. She glared at him, before laughing and jumping onto her bed, which was right next to his.

"What are you doing?"

"Gotta keep my weapon clean." He wiped some paint off. "Totally awesome weapon right here—"

"It's a baseball bat." She giggled at the offended look on his face.

Sapphire huffed and placed his bat on the floor leaning against his bed. He reached into his bag and grabbed a bag with a burger and some fries, and began eating. "You could never comprehend the complexities of battling with a baseball bat." The small bruises he'd acquired began healing, and Sapphire nodded.

"We fight with our minds."

"I know a hypnosis spell, don't make me send you to dreamland." Sapphire pointed a fry at her, and she shot forward, eating it. "Hey!"

"Mine now!" She grabbed a handful of fries and jumped away.

"Hey!" Sapphire jumped after her, and she shrieked with laughter as she held the fist full of fries away from him. "My fries!"

"You shall never get your fries! They're mine now!"

"Not on my watch, you vile fiend!" They wrestled on the beds laughing, eventually growing tired and falling asleep. As Sapphire drifted off, a small smile grew. Since he'd started his journey, he hadn't gotten to take a real break… it'd been battle after battle, risking his life against things that wanted to kill him.

But… even if it didn't feel like it while battling giant ants, exploding trees, or psychotic cultists, he was just a thirteen-year-old kid. Having fun like this with someone else reminded him of that, and the fact that even if he was saving the world, why couldn't he have some fun on the way? Sapphire yawned and quickly fell asleep, his head resting on the pillow next to Willow's.

* * *

Sapphire entered the drugstore with Willow behind him. "So we need to get you a weapon, then we'll go check out where I think the next Sanctuary is."

"Rightio!" Sapphire walked into the sports aisle, looking around.

"Now, since people obviously wouldn't let kids have actual weapons, I've had to make due. I have my bat for bashing things and my slingshot for long range when I don't want to use PSI. What do you think you can use? Willow?" Sapphire turned around to see that Willow wasn't there.

"Over here!" Sapphire turned the corner around the isles and stepped into the kitchen isle to see Willow holding up a frying pan. "What do you think?"

Sapphire held his hands up and breathed in, before pointing them at Willow. "…I love it."

"Right!?"

"It's awesome! You get to bash evil creatures with a flat metal surface! That's got to hurt! And then we can cook stuff with it!" Willow quickly approached the counter as Sapphire withdrew money from his even larger bank account, "Thanks dad," and approached the counter as well. "How much for the frying pan?"

The old man, who looked much more relaxed now that he wasn't being mind-controlled, rang up the price. "Fifty-six dollars."

"Uh—"

"Here you go." Sapphire just sighed and shook his head at Willow, handing three twenty dollar bills over to the man, and getting four singles back. They exited the store as Sapphire put the money away, grumbling to himself. "Fifty plus dollars for a frying pan…"

"That does sound like a bit much." Willow looked at it, before tilting her head. "Where should I put it?"

"Hm…" Sapphire pointed a finger at the white sash going around the waist of her dress. "Can you put it there?" Willow fiddled with the sash until she fit the handle of the frying pan between it and her dress.

"Yay!"

Sapphire laughed alongside her, and they approached the cave that the one brainwashed boy had been talking about, the 'anti-blue place.' In fact, the boy was still there, looking inside. When he heard footsteps he turned and smiled when he saw Sapphire. "Oh, it's you! Thanks to you I'm no longer part of Happy-Happyism. Although I _am _still curious about what lies within this cave…"

Sapphire grinned. "It's no problem. And we're going to go explore, I'll make sure to let you know what's inside. The boy smiled, and they quickly entered the cave. Luckily the first room of the cave was small enough that the sunlight lit it all up, but it was still large, with turns and ledges, with paths going up and down. "We'll have to watch our step."

"Yeah, don't want to fall…" They began walking through the cave, there were several odd holes in the floor about the width of soccer balls, but he couldn't see how deep they were. As they kept walking they passed through a small area with even more holes in the ground, and Sapphire narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right…

Danger.

Sapphire and Willow jumped aside just as a small mole-like creature zoomed out of one of the holes. It barely missed Sapphire's head, and he let out a yelp when it did so. It landed on the floor and began scrabbling for another hole, only for Willow to bash it with her Frying Pan towards him, causing him to grin and wind up before bashing it and sending it flying across the cave. It slammed into a wall and glowed, before slumping over.

"Nice hit!"

"Thanks!" There was a rumble, and suddenly several more moles began hopping out of their holes. "Look out!" He slammed a mole away, before paralyzing another so Willow could smack it away before it could scratch her.

Danger.

"Sapphire, behind you!" Sapphire turned to see a mole flying straight for his face, sharp claws outstretched and ready to rend flesh. There was a sudden rush of cold air, and Sapphire had to shield his face. "PSI Freeze α!" The mole screeched as it was encased in ice and Sapphire backed up as it slammed into the ground and shattered.

"Holy crap, that's awesome! You can freeze things with your mind!" Willow giggled and gave him a thumbs up. The rest of the moles were wary after seeing one of themselves literally freeze out of nowhere, but eventually attacked again. "Back off!" He bashed one mole away, before having to block another with his arm. He grit his teeth as he felt the corrupted animal's claws dig into his flesh before he threw it away.

Danger.

Sapphire spun and held up his bat, blocking a mole's attack, before a blast of freezing air and ice knocked it away. He grinned his thanks at Willow who grinned back before he wound up and _smashed _the last mole that was trying to escape. Sapphire looked around for any more enemies, before lowering his bat.

Willow suddenly jumped next to him, grinning cutely. "So, What do you think?"

"That was awesome! My most powerful attack is Hope, and I can accidentally damage myself if I use it too close."

"Thanks!" They began walking again. "I hope I get some more powers soon though, Freeze only works on one enemy."

"Well since Hope literally explodes, you let me handle groups, while you take down more powerful enemies. Honestly, if that's your very first power, you'll probably be the team's main damage dealer soon." Sapphire chuckled.

Willow smiled back and Sapphire continued to look out for any enemies. The holes were too deep to check for moles, so he'd just have to trust his instincts. "Hey Sapphire, did you hear something like a lock opening during that battle?"

Sapphire turned and raised an eyebrow. "Do you not know what that is?"

"Nope!"

"Huh. Well, I think it means that you've unlocked a new psychic power. But if you've had powers for a while, how do you not know that?"

Willow shrugged. "I've had my powers since I was a baby, I can't remember a time before I had them."

"So this must be the first time since then that you've exerted your powers and learned a new one," Sapphire guessed. "Well, as I said, it's what I usually hear when I get a new power, so try and look into your mind to find it."

"Look into my mind… I'll just guess that it's like what I do when using telepathy." She closed her eyes, and Sapphire quickly grabbed her hand to make sure she wouldn't trip over any rocks. "I… think I've found something."

"What is it?"

"PSI Fire α." Willow's hand lit up red, and Sapphire yelped as it heated up and a stream of fire shot out. "Whoa! So cool!"

"Ah! Hot!" Sapphire waved his hand and blew on it.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"No, no, it's alright." Sapphire shook his hand. "I pulled my hand back before there was too much damage, don't worry. Anyway, now you have the powers of fire and ice." They giggled together before they heard growling and turned to see a large bear smiling down at them, although its eyes clearly shone with malice.

"Oh, crap."

Willow giggled. "Hey, you cursed!" They both jumped back as the bear tried bashing them, and Sapphire readied his bat. He yelled and tried bashing it in the side, making it stumble back, before swiping at him with sharp claws and tossing him back.

"Gah!" Sapphire scrambled to his feet and blocked another attack by holding his bat in the bunting position. They struggled for a moment, but Sapphire somehow stood his ground against the larger creature, until Willow attacked it with a Freeze. It roared as its body became frozen over, and Sapphire wound up, _smashing _it to pieces.

"Nice team up!" Willow giggled and spun in place. More roaring drew their attention and several more bears approached. Willow lifted her Frying pan, before blanching when she saw a human skeleton lying on the ground where the bears had been sitting. Sapphire noticed and grasped Willow's hand, smiling.

"Don't worry, we won't be dying here!" Willow grinned back and nodded. "Alright, Shield α times two!" His shield formed over his body before a similar one appeared on Willow. "Let's do this!" He ducked underneath a strike from one of the bears, and there was a metallic _wham_ as Willow slammed her Frying Pan into its face. Sapphire faced the rest of the bears and grinned, lifting both hands and lighting them up. "PSI Hope α!"

Zap, boom! The bears were thrown apart as the ground beneath them erupted and exploded, while the bear behind him tried swiping at Willow who jumped away. When it tried to claw at her again, she manipulated her teddy bear to take the blow for her. She then raised her free hand, "PSI Freeze α!" and the air snapped as it super-cooled and the bear was quickly frozen. She bashed it to make it shatter, only for another bear to suddenly appear in front of her.

It bit down on her arm, and the only reason it wasn't completely bit off was because of Sapphire's shield. She screamed, before bringing her pan down to bash its head, trying to make it let go. "Willow!" Sapphire suddenly jumped over the back of the bear and brought his bat down onto the bear's head. It let go of Willow's arm, roaring in pain. "Freeze it, freeze it!"

"PSI Freeze α!" The bear began slowing down as it was covered in frost, and Sapphire wound up to slam his bat into the side of its head. It shattered, and Sapphire fell to the ground with a thud. The rest of the bears began getting up from where they were launched, and Willow powered up her arm with heat. "PSI Fire α!" A roiling wall of flames shot out, and each of the bears roared as they were incinerated.

"Damn…" Sapphire got up and walked over to Willow. "That was just like the thing the Starman used against me back in Onett."

"What's a Starman?"

"One of Giygas' alien troops. Show me your arm." He examined her arm, and she flinched as some blood began running down her arm. Sapphire grimaced as well, his distaste for blood showing. "PSI Lifeup α." The wounds began healing, and she looked down at her arm in wonder.

"I didn't know you knew healing magic!"

Sapphire shrugged. "It's how I survived most of Giygas' influence in Onett. You don't seem as durable as I am… I mean, during my first few battles I was injured and cut up a lot, but now I can take a few more hits before I start bleeding."

"Maybe it's a passive psychic thing? Like how a thirteen-year-old can overpower a large bear for a few seconds. You're psychically strengthening your body, and maybe your clothes too. They haven't really been that cut up."

"Huh. I hadn't even thought of that. Or like how I'm getting faster and faster, or how I can heal from eating!" They continued walking, passing by several pools of water until they heard a squeaking noise and looked up. "Oh look, bats. Duck?"

"Duck." The bats immediately shot down and began closing at them with tiny talons, so Sapphire and Willow began swinging their weapons like crazy. The bats easily dodged Sapphire's longer but thinner bat, while Willow's wider pan easily knocked a few out of the air. One began rooting around in Sapphire's bag, and he quickly shook off his bag to get a clean shot at the corrupted animal.

"PSI Fire α!" A wave of fire spread out and burned the bats before Willow lowered her pan and clutched her head. Sapphire slammed aside a bat trying to get back up and grabbed her shoulder.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, my head just hurts."

"Well, you said you've never really used your PSI that much right?"

"Yeah, mostly to just entertain the kids at the preschool."

"From what I've experienced, when you start running low on psychic energy, you begin to get a headache. I'm not sure what exactly happens when you're completely out and try to use a PSI ability, but I don't want to find out. You'll regain your energy after a short rest, so let's take a break."

"Okay!" They sat down by a small pool of crystal clear water, and Sapphire grabbed the last two burgers from his bag. He handed one to Willow while unwrapping his own. Sapphire felt some of his small cuts close as he ate, and looked around the area they were in.

There was a short path they could follow between several more pools of water, and at the end was a larger area with several stalagmites and stalactites. There was a small opening in the back, with heavy shadows pouring out. Sapphire narrowed his eyes, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something dangerous was through there… the Sanctuary Guardian.

When they finished eating, they stood up and approached the doorway. "Be careful," Sapphire said, "I think what we're looking for is through there."

Willow nodded, a more serious look on her face. "Right." They approached the doorway, and Sapphire flinched when a sudden voice rang out, digging into his mind.

"You finally got here…" the shadows in the opening moved, and a large paw thudded against the floor. "This is the second of your Sanctuaries… but it belongs to me now… take it from me, if you dare!"

* * *

**Sanctuary guardian two, Mondo Mole! Oh, and Willow. Writing her is fun, I like the idea of a cute girl in a pink dress and bow **_**goddamn annihilating **_**in front of her with ice and fire magic. I mean, she is the DPS of the team in the game anyway.**

**And I tried to give a reason for the children being able to keep up with magic monsters, being that their psychic powers can enhance their physical capabilities passively. It'll give a good reason that they can keep up with creatures like the Chomposaurs in the Lost Underworld.**

**Anyway, like comment and subscribe. Wait, wrong website. Crap.**


	7. Chapter 7: From Twoson to Threed

Chapter Seven: from Twoson to Threed

Sapphire raised his bat as the large mole looking creature stepped out of the shadows. It was similar looking to the smaller moles that played rough earlier, except it was much larger, well over six feet, almost seven. Its claws were each at least a foot, and its teeth were jagged and cracked, poking out of its mouth. Its fur was matted and dirty, and a deep brown color.

It chuckled a deep and dark chuckle, as it lumbered forward and a shield of light formed in front of it. However, it looked different from Sapphire's regular shield, and more like Buzz Buzz's PSI shield. "Be careful with PSI attacks," Sapphire said.

"You got it!" Willow readied her frying pan, and they both split up as to attack from two angles. The mole turned to Sapphire with its savage grin, raking its claws together.

"You will never defeat Giygas if you cannot defeat me!" It cackled and suddenly jumped forward with extreme speed, clawing at Sapphire's face. Sapphire held up his bat in a bunting position and blocked the attack, grunting as he was pushed back slightly. The mole then lifted its other arm and slapped him away, and Willow attacked from behind, slamming her pan down on its head.

It roared and threw her off before Sapphire recovered and slammed his bat into its legs, knocking it over with a roar. "I knew it, it's a PSI shield, not a physical one!" The mole growled and glowed red a moment before it thrashed around and threw him off with renewed strength. "Did that thing just get stronger?"

The mole clawed at him and he jumped back, before swinging and knocking the mole backward. The monster attempted to attack again before Willow's teddy bear jumped forward and blocked the attack. Stuffing went flying and the bear flew away, while the mole roared in confusion, until Willow unleashed a barrage of ice that the shield only partially stopped. The mole howled with rage as its back began to freeze over before it turned with surprising speed and bashed Willow away.

Willow cried out in pain as she slammed into the cave wall, and several sharp stones tore through her dress and dig into her skin. Red quickly stained her pink dress, and she dropped onto the floor. The mole monster cackled and jumped at the vulnerable girl before she telekinetically moved her bear in front of her to protect her, and the stuffed animal was subsequently torn to shreds. The monster huffed in disdain and attacked once more.

Luckily, Sapphire slid in front of her and crossed his arms to defend just in time. "Shield α!" The mole impacted, and sparks of light glanced off Sapphire's shield as the strong-as-steel claws impacted with his barrier. They dug through and ripped into his skin causing him to cry out, as the stress wore on his mind, and the sound of a lock snapping echoed through his head.

His eyes unfocused as knowledge of a new power flowed through his body before he switched his arms from defending to grabbing onto the mole's snout. "PSI Flash α!" The mole screamed as a ball of light formed between Sapphire's hands and subsequently exploded, blinding the mole as tears began running down its face.

"AGH! I'LL KILL YOU!" Sapphire grabbed Willow and dove away from the mole, who was swinging their dangerous claws wildly. Sapphire grinned as he noticed the mole stumble beneath several sharp stalactites and charged up a Hope. He unleashed it at the mole who screeched in pain, their PSI Shield only partially blocking the powerful attack. The cave rumbled and the stalactites fell, piercing the monster's flesh and bone.

As the monster fell forward and writhed, Sapphire quickly turned and checked on Willow. "Sheesh, that's bad…" there was a lot of blood, several holes in her back leaking her life fluid. Luckily it looked like no organs were hit, and the holes weren't too deep. And besides that… "PSI Lifeup α!" His hands glowed and he placed them on her bloody back, transferring the light to Willow's body. The holes closed, and Sapphire wiped the blood on his jeans, shivering. "I hate blood…"

Willow groaned and got up, rubbing her back. "Thanks, Sapphire…"

"No problem." They turned to the Sanctuary Guardian and saw that it was slowly getting up. "At least this one doesn't have little minions that can heal them." The mole glowed as it healed itself and Sapphire slumped forward. "You've got to be kidding me…"

The mole turned to them, clearing the tears from its eyes, and growled towards them. "You will suffer for this!" Sapphire winced as the voice dug into his brain, before shaking his head. Not enough energy left for a Hope, but definitely enough for a few Lifeup's or a Flash…

"_Sapphire, I have a plan," _Sapphire jumped as he heard Willow's voice in his head and turned to look at her. "_I'm using telepathy so the plan can't be heard. Get the guardian in the water, and I can take them out instantly!" _

"_Uh, right." _Sapphire tried to think back at her, and she nodded as she heard him. Willow moved back, probably to find good positioning for whatever she was planning, while Sapphire stepped forward, twirling his bat. The mole stomped forward, shaking the ground in the process, and growled at him. "Alright, bring it freak!"

"SUFFER!" The mole clawed at him and he dodged to the side, before blocking another strike with his bat. He yelled and punched the mole in the stomach, making it grunt before it grabbed his bat and tossed him aside. He groaned and rolled, getting back to his feet. The mole turned its gaze to Willow, and Sapphire quickly ran forward, making sure to keep the enemy's eyes on him, and not Willow.

"Eyes on me, dirt-breath!" He slammed his bat into its face, and it roared in pain before slamming its claws against his side. Sapphire gasped as he felt the claws tear through his shield and into his flesh. Blood spurted from his mouth as the sharp claws dug into his side, and he screamed as he felt them scrape against his ribs, cracking one. Sapphire squeezed his eyes shut as he realized that his shield must have finally gone down just as he'd attacked.

"You had no chance of defeating me! You will die here, barely days into your journey and Lord Giygas shall rule all!" Sapphire ignored the mole's words, focusing on something. If his own shield had gone down, and he had set up his shield after the mile had… then its own shield must be down as well! He opened his eyes and sure enough, the sheen of a shield was not on its fur!

"P-PSI Flash α!" An explosion of bright white light and Sapphire felt himself get thrown back as the mole threw him aside, clutching at their eyes. He got up, holding a hand to his wound, and charged. He impacted with the mole and they both were thrown several feet by his enhanced strength before the guardian grabbed him and slammed him into the ground below.

"It's over, Chosen!"

Sapphire screamed as the mole dug its claws into him again, but forced himself to smile through the pain, and weakly grinned upwards at the mole. "A-and now y-you're going to say… 'Your dea-death was inevitable fr-from the start…'"

"Your death was inevitable from the start!" The mole raised a claw, before gasping. "WHAT?!" Sapphire grinned as he felt water mix with the blood pooling under him, and looked to the side. Willow was charging up a PSI attack, electricity flowing across her whole body. Below both him and the mole was one of the small pools, and Sapphire quickly gripped the mole's arms so they couldn't escape, and screamed towards Willow, "N—Now, do it!"

"PSI Thunder α!" Willow launched several powerful thunderbolts, and both Sapphire and the guardian screamed in pain as electricity coursed through them, into the water, and back into them over and over again. After several seconds that felt like minutes, the electricity finally stopped. Willow rushed over and checked Sapphire, feeling a weak pulse. "Sapphire? Sapphire?!"

"Ugh…" Sapphire groaned and pushed the dead body of the mole off him. "Q-quick, get me to the Sanctuary… I'll die if I'm not healed, and I d-don't have enough PSI energy for a Lifeup…" Willow quickly grabbed him and helped haul him to his feet, causing him to scream.

"Sapphire!"

"It… it's nothing! Just get me to the Sanctuary!" Willow hauled him forward, and they began stumbling towards the opening in the wall. They emerged into a small clearing, with a few trees growing from the ground. They stumbled forwards before Sapphire collapsed onto the ground.

Sapphire could hear Willow calling his name, but it quickly grew quieter and quieter, and he looked up to see his hand resting in a small footprint. He looked around to see several more, starting from one tree, looping, then trailing off behind another. A name in the back of his mind surfaced. Lilliput Steps.

It was said to be a magical place, where nature spirits reside, away from the world, with the only evidence of their existence being their footprints. If you found the place, then it was said you would be blessed by nature, or you _were_ blessed… Sapphire couldn't remember, he just knew that it was an old tale from an old book… but it looked like it definitely existed, at the very least.

He then remembered his vision from Giant's Step, of the small valley with trees and footprints. He'd somehow had a vision of his next Sanctuary… he reached into his pocket and pulled out the quickly warming Sound Stone, rolling it forward. It slowed as it reached the lip of a footprint, before rolling down into the print of the foot's big toe.

The Stone began playing music, starting where it had stopped back at Giant's Step. Willow listened along with him as the oddly familiar and contradictory melody played, before it once again stopped far sooner than he wished it would. In his mind, another vision grew brighter and louder, until he could see it clearly.

A small baby was giggling, waving his hands as he rocked in his crib. Atop his head, hiding small tufts of deep brown, nearly black hair, was his favorite red baseball cap… for a brief moment, he could see a small pond in another valley, which was oddly colored, being a bright white, and a round object in the very center which was spewing the white liquid into the air.

Sapphire smiled as he stood up, his wounds healed. No more cracked rib, the ripped flesh gone… even his clothes were fixed! Somehow… no idea how that one worked. Willow as well was fixed up. Well, Sapphire had healed her before, but now her ripped dress was fixed as well. He reached down and grabbed the Sound Stone, seeing that another notch was filled in. It had a brown circle, with a dozen footprints in it.

"I am Sapphire…" he held the Stone high, a bright grin as the wind itself seemed to laugh alongside him, as Willow grinned and clapped, encouraging him. "And I've claimed this Sanctuary!"

* * *

Sapphire and Willow walked back into Twoson, and Sapphire grinned as he heard the rush of cars. "Ah, civilization."

"You were only away from this for, what, a day?" Willow grinned and skipped away, twirling to look at him.

"Hey, a day seems like a lot more when you're dealing with exploding trees, UFO's, and weird cults."

"I guess." She nodded as she reached up and took a sliver a bark from her hair. "Those things were really annoying…"

"Of course they are. You've got to make a mad dash after beating those things up. Otherwise, KERPOW!" They both laughed as he pantomimed an explosion before Sapphire looked up and down the street. "Your house is this way, yeah?"

"Yep!" They walked down the road until they reached her house, where the same kid that was playing outside when Sapphire had first arrived. They looked up and saw Sapphire standing alongside Willow and immediately a bright grin grew on their face before they rushed over.

"Willow!" Willow giggled and caught the child as they jumped at her. "You're back!"

"Yep! I'm going inside to say hi to everyone, want to come?"

"Yep!" The child jumped down and grabbed Willow's hand, walking alongside her.

"You're really popular with kids," Sapphire grinned.

Willow smiled and shrugged in reply, and they entered the house. "I'm hooooooome!"

"Willow!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large blond man ran up and scooped up Willow, hugging her close. "You're finally back!"

"Hi, daddy! You have Sapphire to thank for that!" The man turned to him, and Sapphire waved, grinning. "He beat up monsters and cultists and saved me!"

Willow's father grabbed him and lifted him up as well, hugging him. "Thank you so much, my boy!"

"Uh, no problem." Willow giggled at him over her father's shoulder, until they were both placed back down.

"Come on, let's go tell everyone you're back!" Sapphire watched as Willow was dragged away by her father.

"You have fun with that, I'll just wait here." Willow nodded at him, and Sapphire looked around the house, before turning to the kid next to him. "You got a phone?" The kid pointed at a phone by the door, and he walked over to pick it up, dialing his father's number.

"Howdy-howdy, who's this?"

"Heya pops!"

"Sapphire! How's your journey been?"

"It's had its ups and downs."

"Oh?"

Sapphire began talking about everything that had happened within Twoson and Happy-Happy Village, while his father wrote everything down. "…So then there's a huge explosion of lightning and I have to hold my ground and hope that the Franklin Badge wouldn't give out!"

"Whoa-ho-ho! Sounds exciting!"

"Yeah, it was awesome! Well, not at the time, but looking back it was awesome." Sapphire looked back to see Willow walking over, a small bag on her back, and her frying pan in her sash/holster. "Hey, I've got to go. I'm going to call mom and sis, then get going!"

"All right, good luck kiddo! Make me proud!" Sapphire grinned and hung up, beginning to dial the number for his house.

As he waited for somebody to pick up, he turned to Willow. "So, how'd your parents react to you having to leave again?"

"They were upset, but they eventually understood. How did your mom react?"

"She was pretty cool about the whole thing actually. Anyway, before we leave Twoson, we should probably go see Mr. Everdred. He wanted to know if I saved you after all."

"Rightio! Sounds fun!"

"We can go see him- oh, hello? Mom?"

"Hello? Is that you sweetie?"

"Yeah! I'm just checking in to say hello to you and Trace!"

"Oh, how sweet! Tracey, your big brother is calling!"

"Really? Coming mom!" Sapphire grinned as he heard his sister's voice in the background.

"Anyway, how have you been?"

"We've been doing well back in Onett. King is still chasing off any wild animals around the house, and Tracey is making money with her job. She definitely feels safer with your old bat on her way to school. The teachers haven't said anything because they realize how dangerous it is outside."

"Well, it's good to know you're all safe. I'm doing pretty well myself."

"You haven't been hurt have you?"

"Uh… define hurt?"

"Sapphire…"

"Oh, is that Tracey I hear in the background? Beloved sister, come talk to big brother!" Willow made a '_snirk'_ sound from behind him as she tried to hide her laughter, while his mother just sighed and handed the phone to Tracey.

"Hi, big bro!"

"Hey, Trace, staying safe in Onett?"

"Yep! The Sharks are helping clean up all the messes around Southern Onett, so I don't have to worry about them."

"It's good to know Frank stuck by his word…"

"You know the leader of the Sharks?!"

"Yeah. I had to beat him up. Afterward, he said he'd reform the Sharks, so at least he's a man of his word. Anyway, I met one of the kids that's going to help me save the world, say hi to Willow!" He held the phone so that they could both talk into it and hear Tracey.

"Hello, Sapphire's sister!"

Tracey gasped. "Oh my god, mom, Sapphire has a girlfriend!"

Sapphire scrambled to pull the phone away, as Willow fell backward and began laughing hysterically. "I WILL END YOU TRACEY!"

Suddenly, his mom. "Really?! Oh, honey that's great! What is she like? What does she look like? What's her favorite food?! I can make it if you come home!"

"Mom!" He hissed into the receiver as he tried to get it as far from Willow's laughing form as he could. "I've got to go, bye!"

"Alright honey, one last question before you go… When am I getting grandkids?" Sapphire slammed the phone down to hang up, his mother and sister's laughter echoing from it.

"I'm out!" Sapphire threw his hands up as he exited Willow's house, Willow quickly following, still giggling. He grumbled as he walked up the street, Willow matching his pace and moving beside him.

"Sooo…" she turned to him and her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Since we're dating, want to go to the theatre or something?"

Sapphire groaned and facepalmed. "Let's… let's just go see Everdred then get out of Twoson…" her giggling redoubled as they made their way into Burglin park. The small shops looked the same as the last time he was there, and they knocked on the front door of Everdred's shack to let him know they were there, before entering.

Everdred was sitting on a choice and looked over, before grinning widely. "Sapphire, Willow!" He hopped up and approached, grabbing Sapphire's shoulder and giving him a thumbs up. "I knew I could count on you!"

"Uh, yeah." Sapphire nodded along.

"Anyway, I was planning on asking you to be my…partner… but I know you'll refuse. It's written all over your face."

"Yeah. Besides the fact that we're leaving Twoson, I'm not into the whole criminal thing." Sapphire rolled his eyes.

"Right, right. Anyway, if you had accepted I was going to give you some money,"

"I like money!"

"But… since I can't keep the money anyway for various reasons, let me give it to you! Here you go, ten thousand dollars!"

Sapphire choked on his spit. "H-H-H-H-How much?!"

He handed over a wad of bills. "Ten thousand! Take it! YOU CANNOT REFUSE MY GENEROSITY!"

"Why would we want to?!"

"We really can't Mr. Everdred-" Willow started saying.

"Don't listen to her," Sapphire loudly whispered.

"Just accept it," he laughed. "Anyway, now I plan on looking for the evil Mani-Mani statue that Lier X. Agerate unearthed in Onett."

Sapphire winced as a bolt of pain shot through his head, before nodding. "Alright. That thing seems pretty evil, it's probably a good idea to just destroy it. Or keep it…" Willow smacked him upside the head. "Thanks. Probably some aftershocks from being close to the statue while covered in mind-control paint…"

"Anyway, I'll get going now! See you in another time, in another place!" He ran out of the building, Sapphire and Willow watching him go.

"Well, that was a thing." He looked down at the Wad of Bills, "is this really ten-thousand dollars?"

"I trust him," Willow shrugged. "Anyway, do you want to head straight out of Twoson, or take a rest?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well just today we fought a _giant_ mole, several bears and regular moles, then on the way back to Twoson, we fought UFO's, exploding trees, and living weeds and mushrooms. We could get something to eat or relax at the Chaos Theatre before heading to Threed since that's the closest town."

Sapphire hummed. While saving the world was pretty important, a short break wouldn't be that bad. It would probably help, the only rest he'd gotten was staying at a hotel in Onett and then that one house in Happy-Happy Village. A bit more time between fighting corrupted animals and aliens would probably be good for him.

"Sure, sounds good. Want to head to that pizza place we saw on the way here?"

"Sure!" They exited the park and walked up the street, eventually reaching a building simply labeled 'Pizza,' with a small overhang over the door and a single window. As they entered the building, Sapphire noted that there weren't any tables for some reason.

"Hello, welcome to Mach Pizza!"

"Hi, uh, why are there no tables?"

"Oh, we don't sell pizza here, we only deliver."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow and looked at Willow, who shrugged. "Okay, can I have the place's number then?"

"Of course!" Sapphire patted his pockets for a piece of paper, before just grabbing a napkin from a holder and a pencil from his backpack. After writing down the number, they exited the building and Sapphire placed the napkin in his bag.

"So, burgers and shakes?"

Willow nodded. "Burgers and shakes."

* * *

Sapphire finished the last of his shake as they reached the Chaos Theatre, and tossed the cup into the trash. "So, ever seen a Runaway Five show?"

"Nope," Willow said. "This'll be my first time."

"Cool. I prefer rockin' out to rock music, but I appreciate most types of music."

"You'll have to show me some of your music after we beat up Giygas," Willow smiled.

"I can do you one better," Sapphire replied, "I know a bit of guitar! I'm not that good at it though…"

"Really?"

"Yep. I wanted to be a guitar player when I was younger, so my dad got me an electric guitar. It's in my room back home, but…" he rooted around in his bag until he pulled out a very worn guitar pick. "Yep! Must have forgotten to take this thing out when I was leaving home." He flipped it, before putting it back in.

"You'll definitely have to play for me then!"

"Sure! As I said, rockin' was one of my favorite things, it'll be fun to see how much I remember." They reached the theatre and saw the band members outside by their bus. "Hey, let's go say hi to them before going in. They're the ones that first told me about the girl with PSI after all."

Willow nodded and they approached the band members, who looked up at their approach. "Well, whaddya know? It's baseball kid and PSI girl!"

"Well that's a superhero duo I'm sure," Sapphire snorted.

"We heard a bit about ya kid after you left! You took down a gang in Onett and beat up corrupt police! You're a real cool hero, kid!"

"Shucks, I'm not that cool…"

"So you did visit the girlie then!" The taller member noted.

"He actually saved me," Willow grinned. "From a really weird cult!"

"Really?" Sapphire gave a lopsided grin, embarrassed at the approving looks. "Well, You're definitely a hero then! Here, a present for the hero!" He handed him a slip and grinned. "It's a backstage pass, you can get into our shows with this!"

They walked back around to the front of the building, but before they could enter a familiar voice made Sapphire groan. "Photos taken instantaneously!"

"Who is this man?" Sapphire groaned as he turned. "Just… I'm not questioning it anymore. Take the picture already."

The man grinned and lifted the camera. "Well, I am a photographic genius, if I do say so myself! So how about you get ready and say… Fuzzy Pickles!" Willow suddenly jumped onto his back and grinned over his shoulder, and Sapphire couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips, instead making a V with one hand, and holding up the backstage pass with the other.

One flash later, and the man was gone. "So who is that?" Willow asked.

"I have no idea," Sapphire deadpanned. "Let's get inside." They entered the theatre and walked up to the ticket taker, who looked at their pass before nodding.

"Alright, hurry on through, the show's just about to start." Sapphire and Willow grinned at each other before they walked past the ticket person and through the large violet doors behind them.

The moment they entered, their eyes widened with astonishment. Jazz music was blaring, and the lights that flashed down on them from above made the floor seem to move, partially helped by the zigzag patterns the floor had. "Wow!"

Sapphire grinned at the jubilation that showed on Willow's cute face, and they made their way through the room. One girl was squealing as she bounced in her seat. "Oh em gee! I finally get to see the Runaway Five! I only wish I could go backstage and see them…"

Willow turned to him and smiled. "Willow…"

"Come on, we could really brighten up her day!"

"Ugh, fine." Sapphire couldn't stop the small grin that grew though, and Willow quickly told the girl that they would let her come backstage with them.

"Really?! Let's go then, what are we waiting for?!" She grabbed their hands and dragged them towards a small door at the back of the room, with a security guy outside it. Sapphire flashed the backstage pass and he nodded, letting them through.

When they got inside, the girl ran off to talk with the heavyset member, while Sapphire talked with the taller one. "So, pretty cool gig you got here."

The man shrugged. "Maybe, but it's pretty tiring being the only act here."

"Really? I mean, you said you were in debt before, but how much?"

"About ten-thousand dollars worth," the man sighed. "We'll be the only act in Twoson for quite a few years it seems. They got us pretty good with that scam, I'll admit."

"Sapphire, Sapphire!"

"Yes, I'm Sapphire." He turned to see Willow behind him.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"…That people should stop assuming that we're dating?"

Willow lightly flicked his nose. "No, that we can pay off the Runaway Five's debt!"

"What?! We can't- well technically we can, but we also need the money! Food, travel expenses, there's only so much my dad can give me!"

The band began shuffling about and exited the room through another door. Sapphire watched them go, before combing his hand through his hair and sighing. "Alright, we'll talk about it later, let's just watch their show for now."

Willow puffed her cheeks out, before sighing and nodding. They exited the room back into the concert hall which was much quieter now, as well as dimmer. A sudden voice came over the speaker, "Yeah! That's right! Tonight, you got the Chaos Theater's Soul Men comin' at ya! Rockin' and rollin' live on this here stage for a limited time only! The world's greatest Bluesmen, the Runaway Five! And here they come! Oh yeah! Baby!"

They quickly found two seats and sat down, as the band members came out. "Wait, if there's six of them, why are they called the Runaway Five?" When nobody answered his question, Sapphire shrugged. "Probably a translation error or something."

About halfway through the first song, when the music began picking up in speed, Willow grabbed his hand and jumped up. "Come on Sapphire, let's dance!"

"What?!" She pulled him to his feet and she began twirling, laughing as he was forced to dance with her. "I'm not a dancer, Willow!"

"Come on, have some fun!" She let go of him and began jumping up and down with most of the other people, while Sapphire just looked around embarrassed, before joining in. Eventually, he forgot about his embarrassment and began laughing and cheering with Willow, as the band played all the way into the night. Well, early night anyway.

Near the end, Sapphire was dancing with Willow, laughing as they held hands and moved around. When the song ended, they cheered with everyone else, before exiting the concert hall. "That was so much fun!" Willow gushed.

"I'm tuckered out," Sapphire admitted, chuckling.

"Oh come on, it was just dancing! Fighting monsters was much harder!"

"Hey…" Sapphire couldn't think up a good comeback. "Shut up!" She giggled and he snickered before Willow noticed a door that was labeled manager.

"Sapphire, last chance, we can pay off the debt for the Runaway Five…"

Sapphire sighed. "I know it's probably the right thing to do since they were scammed and all, but we do need this money…"

Willow shrugged. "Besides the fact that it's the right thing to do, it's probably dirty money. Where else would Everdred, the criminal boss of Burglin Park, get that money?"

"…Yeah, you've got me there. Probably a good idea to get rid of it…" they made their way to the manager's office, and when they knocked they heard a man's voice on the other side.

"Come in!" Sapphire opened the door and let Willow in first, before following her. The manager was a short, fat man with a receding hairline, who sat behind a desk with several papers and stacks of money. "And what do you need, children?"

"We wanted to ask about the Runaway Five's contract? Or something?" Sapphire knew nothing about business or stuff like this, but he figured he could bluff his way through it.

"Heh," he chortled, leaning back in his chair. "The Runaway Five owe me a lot of money, and they'll be staying here until they pay me back. They might be here for the next hundred years unless someone can pay their debt."

Sapphire grinned and grabbed the wad of bills from his back pocket, but made sure to keep it hidden. "How much do they owe you?"

"Now now kiddo, I don't think you have nearly enough money to pay off their debt." The man chuckled condescendingly, and Sapphire narrowed his eyes. Luckily, Willow stopped him before he could lose his temper.

"Humor us," she said with a smile.

"Ten-thousand dollars," he spoke smugly, obviously expecting them to reel back in shock.

"Oh, is that all?"

The man sputtered for a moment, "Wha- now hold on missy, you may not think that's a lot because of how young you are, but-"

Willow motioned at him, and Sapphire grinned, pulling out the wad of cash. "Ten thousand you said?" He fumbled with the money, trying to flip through it, but eventually pulled it off. The man's eyes widened at the sight of the money before he motioned him closer.

"Could you, ah, bring that here? I need a real close look…" Sapphire rolled his eyes and walked around the desk, showing it to him. "Y-you've actually got it… now I'm not sure what to do!"

"Honor your word, dingus," Sapphire glared.

"Right. Right, of course." He reached into his desk and pulled out a contract, before ripping it up. "The Runaway Five are free to leave, now give me the money!"

Sapphire handed it over, and the man laughed as he weighed it in his hands. "Alright Willow, let's go.

"Rightio!" They exited the office and then the building before Willow giggled. "Dingus?"

"Hey, dingus is totally a serious insult," Sapphire laughed. Outside the building was the Runaway Five bus, with all the band's members inside, except for the short singer. "Hey, guys!"

The singer turned when he heard Sapphire, waving. "Well hey there, didja hear the news? 'Parently, our contract was paid off!"

Willow grinned brightly, "Yep! We wanted to help you out, so we paid it off!"

The singer laughed and pulled on his cap. "Well, I'll be! Thanks for that lil' missy, and you two boyo! Hey, if you're headin' ta Threed, why don't you let us give you a lift, for free!"

"That'd be great!" Sapphire and Willow grinned at each other and climbed on board the bus. The singer got on afterward and jumped into the driver's seat.

"All right, how 'bout y'all buckle up!" They sat down on a bench, putting in their seatbelts in. The bench was small so their legs were squished together, but they didn't mind as they were too busy listening as the band members all began playing loudly on their instruments, laughing and joking with each other. Willow grinned and grabbed a guitar, before thrusting it into Sapphire's hands.

"Here, play!"

"Uh, well I don't remember much, but…" Sapphire got out his guitar pick and began strumming, messing up several notes and the rhythm, but eventually was able to semi-decently play along with the rest of the band members.

"There ya go, kid!" The driver laughed as Willow clapped along, the bus pumping out music as it sped along the streets, into the Twoson countryside, towards the tunnel that would lead to Threed. As they drove, the sun began to finally set, bathing the sky in pinks, reds, and yellows.

When they eventually reached the tunnel everything got dark, the only lighting being some of the lights inside the bus, the headlights of the bus, and the lights along the roof of the tunnel. Although everybody inside in the bus couldn't see them, several pale white and tattered figures attempted to grasp onto the bus' wheels or infiltrate the bus, but the loud music and jubilation began scaring them off. By the time the bus exited the tunnel, none of the occupants knew that anything had happened.

Sapphire looked out the window and faltered, his grip on the guitar slipping before he caught it again. "What the heck?" The world outside looked… diseased was the best term. The grass was a dark blue, while the trees either had black and blue leaves or were just completely barren. The sun had apparently set while they were in the tunnel, as the sky was now dark, with no stars visible through the heavy cloud cover.

Sapphire's eyes snapped to behind a tree when he spotted movement, and he could see an odd-looking dog panting heavily. Its fur was mangy and torn out in some places, and its fangs were sharper and longer than any other dogs he'd seen. However, the most disturbing part was the holes in its torso. Sapphire could have been mistaken, but it looked like it was missing flesh and several organs, and he thought he could spot several bones. But before he could confirm it, the bus had gotten too far, and he turned to Willow with a disturbed look.

"Did you see that?"

"See what? The land around here is… wrong." Sapphire just nodded and went back to looking out the window, observing the landscape. Eventually, the bus entered the Threed outskirts, and then Threed proper. The city itself was about as big, or maybe a bit smaller, then Twoson. When they reached about the center of town, the bus slowed down and parked, letting Sapphire and Willow off.

Sapphire observed his surroundings, noting how gloomy the place was. There were very few streetlights, and all the buildings looked dark and cold, while the people wandered about aimlessly, making sure to spend as little time as possible in the shadows. When the driver stepped off, he tipped his hat at them, grinning.

"Well, this is where we say so long, for now anyway."

"Thank you for the ride," Willow smiled. "It was really fun!"

"No trouble at all, missy!" He looked around the town, frowning. "This place seems pretty gloomy, but I'm sure the two of you can bring your own little brand o' sunshine and light it up."

"Thank you, sir." Sapphire shook his hand, as did Willow, before the man climbed back onto the truck, putting his seatbelt on.

"Hope to see y'all again some time! Look for us to be singing in some theatre in Fourside, or somethin'!" The doors closed and he began driving off, leaving Sapphire and Willow standing alone on the sidewalk of Threed.

* * *

**What a good place to stop.**

**Yeet yeet time for zombies. I've got a few chapters saved that I wrote over the break from high school I had a while ago, so I might be pushing Bound By Our Hearts chapters out quicker than my other stories. Really, Whatever I'm motivated to write about I write about, and when I lose the spark I write about one of my other stories. **

**But I'll never abandon any of them, even if I lose my spark for a while. Mostly because I've read too many stories that I wanted to see where they went, but then got to the last chapter and realized 'Well look at this, the dude abandoned/went on eternal hiatus.' "Monsters!" Sapphire screamed. Just wonderful.**


	8. Chapter 8: From the Dark to the Cold

Chapter Eight: From the Dark to the Cold

"So…" Sapphire looked around. "What next?"

"Well…" Willow also looked around noting how dreary and dark the town was, as well as how quiet it was. "This place is really creepy… let's go explore!"

"What?"

"Aw come on, don't tell me you're a chicken!"

"Hey, I'm not a chicken! I just think we should wait until morning."

"But it's so much spookier at night!" She giggled and skipped away, causing Sapphire to sigh and follow. He spotted a hotel across the street and mentally noted the location for when they would need a place to rest after they explored around the town. The two chosen quickly spotted something odd, that being that everyone they walked past skirting away from them while making sure to stay just within the circle of light from the streetlights.

"People here are jumpy," Sapphire muttered. They eventually found a drugstore, and Willow walked inside.

"We should see if they have any good weapons here!"

"Our weapons are baseball bats and frying pans, but sure." Sapphire rolled his eyes but followed her in. As she slipped into the kitchen aisle, he walked into the sports section to take a look around. "Hm…" his eyes fell onto a silver bat with black stripes running up and down it. He gave it a good swing and grinned when he felt a rush of power through his veins. "This'll do." He checked the price tag and groaned, seeing it was three-hundred and ninety-nine dollars.

He walked out of the aisle to see Willow holding a thicker frying pan than the one in her sash, and raised an eyebrow. "One-hundred and ninety-eight…"

"God things are expensive here," Sapphire muttered in response. They approached the counter and Sapphire withdrew money from the atm next to it, grinning and thanking dad as he saw his bank account had grown to the thousands and withdrew five-hundred, before turning to the old lady behind the counter. "We'd like to buy these please."

"Those are awfully expensive, are you sure you have the money?" Sapphire just nodded and handed it over, to which she raised her eyebrows before giving them their change. "And would you like to sell us those in return?" Sapphire looked back to see his bat and Willow's frying pan.

"Sure." They handed over their weapons and were paid for selling them before they grabbed their new ones and left the store. "So where to next?"

"I thought I saw a circus tent before, let's go check it out!"

Sapphire looked at her weirdly. "You want to go check out the circus tent in the weird looking town?! That's the plot of a cliché horror movie!"

"Aw come on, don't you want to see some spooky clowns?" She waved her hands and went 'oOoOoOo!'

Sapphire rolled his eyes. "Fine, but back in Onett Sharks roamed the streets, and in Twoson I saw some corrupted Officer and a couple of hounds. Obviously, Giygas has infected this town somehow, considering that grass isn't blue, so there must be some of his monsters around here."

Willow nodded, looking more serious. "I get that. Giygas has influenced this place in some way, and it's been going on for way longer than we've been here, but as long as we've got each other, we'll be fine!" She winked and stuck her tongue out, grabbing onto his arm. He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Besides that… I believe we will meet another friend here in Threed."

"Yeah?"

"Yep!" She tapped the side of her head. "Clairvoyance is one of my PSI abilities!"

"Clairvoyance? Isn't that seeing the future or something? How does that work?"

"I had it when I was very young, it's triggered by words or sights that have to do with important events in the future, and sometimes randomly during dreams." Sapphire narrowed his eyes as he recognized that. "In the beginning, you forget the premonitions near instantly, because your mind can't handle the knowledge of the future, but once you've experienced enough of them your mind becomes used to them, and you become able to keep the knowledge."

"Huh… I think I have that ability as well…" He thought back to every time he felt an attack coming before it even happened, and whenever he got the odd feeling of a memory that he'd never had appearing, like the first time he'd seen the Mani-Mani Statue. Or, that very first night when the meteor fell… The nightmare he had. He'd forgotten it when he'd woken up, and even now he didn't remember it all, but one part he did remember, was the image of a girl in a pink dress.

If he could remember the rest of it, maybe he'd know what else is to come… He shook his head. "Anyway, is there a way to train Clairvoyance? It'd be useful if I could use mine more often."

"I don't know," Willow shrugged. "I don't think you can train it, more that you start remembering what happens more often. And that just occurs the more you use Clairvoyance, whether consciously or subconsciously."

"Right. I just figured it would be pretty helpful for us to fight Giygas' minions if we knew what they would do ahead of time…"

"Oh, you guys know Giygas?"

"Wha-" Sapphire turned to see a kid playing with a ball looking up at them. "How do you know Giygas?"

"Oh, all the monsters hanging around at the cemetery sometimes come out and attack people for some guy named Giygas."

Sapphire turned to Willow, who nodded at him. "Thanks for the info, kid."

The child smiled, though Sapphire raised an eyebrow when he heard an odd creaking sound, like wood being twisted in a way it shouldn't have. "No problem! The people in Threed already know about Lord Giygas because of all the monsters, so you're travelers that just got here, right?"

"Yeah, we just got into town," Willow smiled, bending over. Sapphire, meanwhile, frowned.

"Wait wait wait, back up, 'Lord Giygas?"

"Oh, that's what all the zombies and stuff call him."

"Uh huh… Where're your parents?"

"They're at home!"

"And why are you out so late?"

"They let me stay out as long as I'm with my friends!" Several other children wandered out of the alleyways and darkness, and all smiled at the two Chosen, more creaks sounding out.

Sapphire narrowed his eyes, not sure what was so unnerving. He just knew that there was something… something off… He looked deep into the eyes of the child in front of him and saw a glossy blankness like they were experiencing nothing. "Willow…" The creaking noises began getting louder, and Willow seemed to sense that something was off. "Get down!" Suddenly, all the children launched themselves at them, screaming.

"Kill them for Lord Giygas!"

Willow ducked behind Sapphire as he pooled energy into his palms and aimed them upwards, before slamming them down into the ground. "PSI Hope α!" The ground below them cracked and the familiar multicolored light shone through before an explosion blew apart the dirt and grass below them and threw the corrupted children away. They coughed and waved their hands, and when the dust cleared, they could clearly see what had attacked them.

What they had thought were children weren't children at all, but instead small dolls on strings, like those you might see at a circus, dressed up in suits of various colors and all glaring at Sapphire and Willow. "Ugh…" Sapphire took a step back, grabbing his bat. "I hate dolls."

"You seemed fine with Mr. Teddy," Willow grinned, grabbing her pan.

"It didn't look human. I hate things that aren't human, but try to look human. Pretty sure that's a phobia or something…" One of the dolls screeched and launched itself forward, and Sapphire batted it out of the air. It slammed into a building and its wooden head cracked, before shattering.

Several of the dummies screeched and closed in before one of them flashed their eyes, and Sapphire shot back, holding his head. His vision swam in front of him and he couldn't focus. He swung his bat at what he thought was a doll, but instead, Willow yelled in shock as she ducked back. "Sapphire, what the heck?"

"S-sorry!" Suddenly, something jumped onto his back and wrapped several strings began wrapping around his throat. "Ghh…" He dropped his bat and kicked his feet against the ground as the doll began dragging him back into the darkness of an alley. "W-W-W…" Sapphire tried calling Willow's name, but ran out of breath and began blacking out.

"Sapphire, hold on!" Willow slammed a doll away, before chasing after Sapphire. "PSI Freeze α!" Sapphire hissed out the last of his breath as he felt his left arm ice up, as well as part of his hair and face before the wires around his neck, loosened and he fell to the floor, gasping. He rubbed his neck as Willow kneeled down in front of him. "Are you okay!?"

Sapphire wheezed and pointed behind her, to where the dolls were closing in. "Back off! PSI Fire α!" A wave of fire flowed out of her outstretched hands, and the dolls all began screaming as their wooden bodies and suits burned up. When they were all dead, she turned back to Sapphire. "Are you alright? Do you need anything?"

He shook his head, scooching along the ground until he was up against a wall. After taking a moment to breathe he tried to speak, only to wheeze and cough violently. Willow leaned down and rubbed his back until he was done. "I-I'm fine. I think my throat was damaged from being choked like that…"

"You should heal yourself!"

"No, It's alright. I'd rather save my energy for more important injuries. I hate dolls…" Willow giggled at that and helped him up. "So, investigate the graveyard?"

"Yep! Just be careful of the spooky zombies!" She wiggled her fingers making him snicker.

"Don't forget the ghosts, probably a lot of those." He chuckled, before thumping his chest as he coughed. "Ugh, that'll be annoying."

Sapphire brought out the maps he'd gotten back in Onett's library, and they looked for the Threed Graveyard. They eventually found it and saw it was to the north, and began making their way to it. As they walked they encountered several more doll-like creatures, that Willow just burned up. "Maybe wooden dolls shouldn't be fighting a psychic with fire powers," Sapphire said as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, py… pyr… fire control is pretty useful against these things."

Sapphire snickered. "Pyrokinesis?" Willow just stuck her tongue out in response. As they entered the graveyard, they both brought out their weapons just in case. As they passed by several graves, they paused as a trash can began rattling. They both assumed it was just an animal like a raccoon, but just to be safe, Sapphire powered up a Flash.

"PSI Flash α!" The explosive light slammed into the trash can and sent it tumbling over before several flies shot out and began attacking them. He yelped and jumped back, swinging his bat to swat away the annoying insects. They were colored like bumblebees but without the stingers, however, their bites were still annoying. "Willow, burn them up!"

"Rightio fearless leader! PSI Fire α!" A ring of fire erupted from the ground around them before it rose up high and began torching the insects. They fell to the ground blackened, and she turned triumphantly to Sapphire, only to wince when she saw his burnt clothes.

"You know, I said _them _not _me._"

"Sorry!" Sapphire brushed off his clothes, getting some of the ash and dead insects off.

"It's fine. Next time, just-" he stopped when the ground rumbled, and they stood back to back. A second later, several hands began shooting out of the ground, and the dirt in front of several graves was pushed aside as zombies began crawling out of the earth. "Oh lord, it's the undead."

"So, there _are_ zombies!" Willow giggled. "Awesome!" The undead began standing, their green or gray skin cracking and stretched tight against their skinny bodies, and their red eyes focused solely on the two children.

"Looks like it." Willow tried freezing one, but after a moment of being stuck in ice, it shattered and began stumbling towards them. "And it looks like they resist your ice!" Although even with their resistance, Willow's sheer psychic power still tore off its arm. Sapphire yelled and wound back before slamming his bat into its head, tearing it clean off and sending it sailing off into the distance. "Homerun!"

Willow giggled and whacked another zombie aside. "It looks like they're pretty weak physically!"

"Well they're zombies, of course they'd be weak physically! PSI Flash α!" The massive blast of light caused several of the zombies to begin crying uncontrollably and miss their attacks, while some just began groaning and swinging their arms at their fellow zombies.

Danger.

Sapphire spun just as a zombie tried attacking from behind, and bashed it away. They were coming from behind too? How many were-

Danger.

He cried out as another zombie bit down on his shoulder, tearing through his shirt and sinking its sharp and rotten teeth into his flesh. It ripped its head back and tore flesh from his shoulder, turning his cry of pain into a scream. "SAPPHIRE! PSI FREEZE β!" There was a rush of cold energy, and suddenly he felt the zombie on his back go still.

He rolled over and saw that the zombie was a complete icicle, and when it hit the ground it shattered into a dozen pieces. He grinned as he felt blood running down his arm, and resisted the urge to place his dirty hand over the wound. "They may be weak defensively, but they tore through my flesh so easily…"

"Sapphire, are you okay?"

"I'm fine…" he got up and saw that Willow was looking at his shoulder in horror. When he looked himself, he blanched when he saw some bone peeking through the red. "Or not…" a wave of pain washed over him, and he winced.

"Heal yourself!"

Sapphire nodded, pulling on his energy. "PSI Lif-" before he could finish, several more zombies jumped at them, laughing hysterically. Sapphire shoved Willow out of the way, knowing that if the zombies were able to hurt _him _that badly, there was no telling what damage they could do to her. At least it seemed that his powers were lessening the pain he felt.

He managed to knock one zombie away with his bat, tearing its torso from its legs and blocked another by shielding himself with his bat, but two more managed to bite down on his forearm and bicep. He yelled in pain as they began tearing at his flesh before his eyes flashed and pumped the one directly in front of him with a Hope.

It's eroded body flashed and inflated, multiple colors shining through its torn skin and veins before it exploded and destroyed itself while throwing the other zombies away. Sapphire bounced along the ground and bit his lip to hold in the yell of agony. Before the others could recover Willow sent a wall of flames forward, and they all were quickly burned to ashes.

She then quickly rushed over, "Sapphire, you're bleeding!"

"I noticed," Sapphire sarcastically drawled, wincing. "PSI Lifeup α!" His wounds began closing, but with them being so deep, the healing stopped before the wound was even close to closed. He grit his teeth and poured more energy into it. He felt a lock snap, but instead of new information flowing through his head, he felt a new tier of power for his Lifeup.

"PSI Lifeup β!" There was a brighter flash of light, and he had to resist the urge to itch his shoulder as the muscles and tendons began to reconnect and stitch themselves back together, while his arm injuries also began stitching back together. After the skin was reconstructed, he rubbed it and shivered. "That felt weird…"

"That was awesome!" Willow pushed his sleeve up to look more clearly at where the wound was, only to see clear skin. On his arm as well, there was no scarring or blemishes. "It's like you got a better version of Lifeup! Like I got with Freeze!"

"Yeah, except that it takes more energy to use," He said as he stood up. He rolled his shoulder, marveling at how there was zero pain. "So, from now on, you're burning up any zombies we come across. I do _not_ want to feel that again…"

"You got it!" They continued walking through the graveyard, steering clear of any trash cans, so they wouldn't have to fight and then risk awakening any zombies waiting under the ground. They perked up as they heard a groaning noise to the north, by the tree line.

They maneuvered their way around several graves until they found a small path through the trees. They followed it until they saw two figures blocking the way. The moonlight was blocked by several clouds, so they couldn't tell if they were zombies or not. Sapphire narrowed his eyes and readied his bat. "Think those are zombies as well?"

"Probably, but why are they just standing there?" When they got close enough, the figures seemed to notice them and turned around. Sure enough, they had the rotting, torn flesh of other zombies and seemed to glare through Sapphire's soul.

One opened its mouth, and only a groan emerged for a moment before words began forming. "L…ea…ve…"

"Holy crap they can talk?" Sapphire shook his head. "Wait, wrong thing to focus on, why do they want us to leave?"

"They're probably guarding something!" Willow grinned and lit her hand up with a Fire α. "Let's kill them and find out what!"

Before they could do anything, the trees around them rustled, and dozens of zombies began stumbling out. "…do you have enough PSI to take them all out?"

Willow slowly shook her head. "Nope. Starting to run low."

"Ah. Tactical retreat?"

"Yep." They turned and ran, screaming, just as a zombie tried swiping at him. They exited the tree line and reentered the graveyard, just as several more zombies were crawling from the dirt. Sapphire wound up and smacked a zombie that tried to grasp them as it crawled from its grave, while Willow sent a wave of fire at several that had escaped from their graves and were shambling towards them.

Danger.

There was a barking noise, and Sapphire backpedaled as a dog shot out from behind a grave and jumped at him. He fell onto his back and managed to hold the dog back just enough that it didn't tear out his throat. He looked down and saw it was missing several organs and bones, and concluded it was a zombie dog. He yelled and tossed it off him, before grabbing his bat and _smashing _it away just as it jumped back at him.

Several more dogs began running at him, and he focused power through his arms, "PSI Hope α!" The dogs were blown into pieces, and he slumped forward, the familiar feeling of running low on PSI beginning to appear. He shook his head and resumed running.

As he ran, he heard a yell and turned to see Willow whacking at a zombie that was grabbing her ankle. Sapphire hurried back and managed to _smash _its head off, but not before it managed to bite into Willow's flesh.

She yelled and fell back before Sapphire grabbed her and put her into the piggyback position. "Hold on tight!" He began running, and she wrapped one arm around his body, and the other kept hold of her pan. The shambling zombies were slow, so even with him carrying Willow, they were faster. Unluckily, they were popping out of graves in front of them, closer to the town.

"PSI Fire α!" Sapphire felt a wave of heat and looked back to see a multitude of zombies groan as their frail bodies began falling apart in the wave of intense heat.

"Willow, don't waste energy! We might need it for…" he looked ahead, and skid to a halt. "Something like that." A practical wall of zombies was crowding the exit of the graveyard, with no way through without being torn to shreds.

Willow frowned. "I might have enough energy for one more attack, so push through when I use it!" Sapphire nodded, leaning forward. "PSI Fire α!" The flames washed over the zombies, and they began falling apart before Sapphire began rushing through them. Several tried to grasp at him but fell apart before they could.

He shoved his way through, headbutting a zombie that tried to jump through the flames and attack him. Its weak head was crushed, and he managed to side-step its crumbling body as more and more zombies closed in on him and Willow. Most burned up in the fire, but many still managed to get close enough to attack.

Sapphire hissed as several managed to claw at his arms or torso before the flames died out and a dozen more surrounded them. He felt Willow slump against his back and knew she was out of energy. "Alright, I'll finish this myself, hold on tight!" He felt Willow clasp harder to him, before he yelled, "PSI Hope α!" The explosion lit up the dark sky before zombie parts began raining down on them.

Sapphire slumped forward, the sudden weight of exhaustion slamming into him. He wasn't going to be able to do any more PSI, except for maybe a Lifeup α. He needed to get them somewhere safe, and fast. Groaning from more zombies behind them reminded him of where they were, and he ran out of the graveyard, back into Threed. He looked back and saw several dogs chasing them, while the rest of the zombies were still recovering.

"Aw crap, no more energy, and a bunch of zombie dogs are chasing us…" Sapphire skid as he slowed down, turning into an alley. The dogs howled and barked, slamming into each other as they tried to fit into the opening. "Can I outrun them? No, they're too fast, and they're zombie dogs so they can probably track my scent!"

He turned around another corner, scrambling as he almost tripped and fell. "Think, think, think, think…" He skid to a stop when he heard creaking, and groaned when he saw several more of the wooden puppets from earlier close in. "Just great." He turned and saw the zombie dogs running around the corner and grimaced, hiking Willow up so she wouldn't fall off his back.

"Caught between two groups of enemies…"

"Hey, hey, there he is!" He turned and saw the puppets closing in, pointing and smiling. "Let's kill him for Lord Giygas!"

Sapphire backed up, before grinning. "Hope this works… Hey, puppet dudes! Those zombies I met earlier were totally talking bad about, uh, Lord Giygas!"

The puppets slowed. "What?"

"Yeah, it shocked me too! Apparently, the zombies are using Lord Giygas just so they can be resurrected and alive again, and when they are, they'll betray Giygas! And I bet the zombie dogs are doing the same thing! You should teach them a lesson about betraying your master!"

The puppets screeched and flew over him, shooting their strings out and trapping the dogs. The dogs in response began biting and growling, an all-out brawl between the puppets and zombies beginning. Sapphire just watched, before sprinting down an alleyway and laughing. "Oh wow, that totally worked! That was totally the stupidest thing to happen this entire journey!"

He ran through the alleys until he managed to reach the streets, where he began jogging. He heard the few people he passed muttering about weird lights or fires in the graveyard, causing him to shake his head and began slowing down to a walk when they neared the center of town. It seemed the further out you got, the more dangerous it was. Except for the alleyways, which held roving bands of those puppets.

He passed a small bakery and decided to get some food. Willow would probably be hungry soon, and so would he. After getting food and storing it in his bag, he tore a strip of cloth from his shirt and tied it around Willow's wound. By the time they were nearing where the Runaway Five had dropped them off, Willow began stirring. "Ugh…"

"Finally awake? I didn't even know you'd fallen asleep, I just assumed you were resting."

"...Comfy…" she pushed her face into his hair and sighed, making him blush before rolling his eyes.

"Don't know how, considering I'm wearing a backpack. Plus my bat."

"Not much in it."

"Hm." He continued walking in silence.

"Where're we going," she mumble asked.

"I saw a hotel when we first got off the bus, so I'm going to buy us a room. We need some rest to recover our energy. I'll try and heal you before we go to sleep, and tomorrow we'll go see what those zombies were trying to guard."

"M'kay…"

Sapphire eventually reached the hotel and pushed his way inside. The man behind the desk looked up at them and quickly plastered on a fake smile. "Welcome to the Threed hotel, How may I help you?"

"One room, for one night, please."

"Of course, that'll be sixty dollars."

Sapphire sputtered. "Wha, that's-! Actually, I don't know if that's outrageous or not…"

"Oh, poor dears!" Sapphire turned his head to see a blonde woman in a black dress and sunglasses descending the stairs in the back of the room. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, just a bit tired, ma'am."

"Do you have enough money for a room? Oh, what am I saying, of course, you don't! Come along, you and your girlfriend can use mine!"

"She's not my girlfriend," He deadpanned. As for her offer… he did have enough money, but he just wasn't sure if he was getting ripped off by the clerk. Besides that, he wasn't sure if he could trust the woman. But she did seem nice enough… he shook his head, the PSI exhaustion making his brain thump in pain.

"Go for it," Willow mumbled.

Sapphire sighed and shrugged. "Alright, sure." He followed the woman up the stairs, where she led them to a room at the end of the hall. He winced, the thumping growing stronger. He really needed to rest…

"Just in here, dearies! You can rest all you want…" she entered the room, and Sapphire adjusted Willow on his back, before walking inside. Sapphire then recognized the thumping in his head. It wasn't exhaustion, well, not fully.

DANGER.

It was his Clairvoyance. He didn't know if the woman was somehow keeping him from fully noticing his danger sense, but by the time he recognized the familiar thump, it was too late.

Several zombies shambled towards them, arms outstretched and teeth gnashing."Crap!" He backed up, but bumped into the door and turned to see that it had been slammed shut by another zombie hiding behind it. Willow yelled and he felt her weight lift off his back, and he turned to see a zombie grabbing her, as she tried to fight her way out of its grasp. "This is gonna suck, but PSI Ho-" before he could find out what would happen if he tried to use PSI without enough energy, something slammed into the back of his head, and he fell forward, unconscious.

* * *

"…phire! Sapphire!"

"I'm up!" He shot upwards, looking around. "…what year is it?" Willow smacked him on the head. "Alright, alright! So where are we?"

"No clue. I woke up about a minute before you did, and immediately tried waking you."

"Right." He got up and dusted off his clothes while looking around. They were in what looked like a man-made cave, considering the walls were all too smooth for it to be normal. There were several small rocks scattered on the ground, but the only other thing of note was the metallic door in the wall opposite of where they stood. It was dark, though thankfully a few glowing stones in the ceiling provided enough light to see.

He felt his bag and bat on his back and saw that Willow still had her weapon as well. "Why didn't they take our weapons? Or my bag?"

"No idea." She shrugged at him and he walked towards the door. He saw that it had a plain metal doorknob and keyhole, but turning the knob did nothing, of course. He took a step back, before slamming his shoulder into it. "Ah!" He hopped back, rubbing his shoulder.

"Having trouble there?" Willow asked, trying to hide a giggle.

"Hey, I'm a baseball player, not a football player." He took a step back. "I don't know how long we were unconscious for, but I feel a bit more energized. What about you? Can you fire a PSI attack?"

Willow clenched her hands. "I think so. We're going to try and brute force the door?"

"Yep. On three, blast it. Ready?"

"Ready!"

"One, two, three! PSI Hope α!"

"PSI Freeze β!" A stream of supercooled air mixed with psychedelic energy, and there was a powerful and bright explosion from the doorway. They waited for the dust to clear, but when it had they both sighed. The door didn't even have a scratch on it. "There goes that plan."

"Yeah…" Sapphire sat back against the door and pulled his bag off. "I got us some sandwiches from a bakery before we got to the hotel." He handed her a wrapped sandwich while pulling out one for himself. She sat down next to him, and they both began eating. They both felt their small wounds and bruises heal as they ate, while Willow's ankle took a bit longer. "So, think they're trying to starve us out?"

Willow tilted her head. "Maybe. We've beaten some pretty tough foes, and we can just run from large numbers, so maybe they're trying to kill us by starving or… what's the water version of starving?"

"I don't know, dehydrating? Either way, I bought a few food supplies so we won't starve, but… we only have a few water bottles, and we'll dehydrate faster than we starve."

"Hm… do you have an empty bottle?" Sapphire handed her one, and she looked up at a stalactite, before shooting a weak Freeze at it. When it was covered in ice, she then shot a weak Fire at it, in a stream. The ice on it began melting, and water dropped down into the water bottle. "Well, it'll be nasty, but we won't run out of water."

"Willow, you're a genius!" He laughed and threw an arm around her. She grinned back and winked. "We can probably last a couple of weeks if we ration the food, so hopefully the zombies or whatever come and check on us to see if we're dead before then, and we can fight our way out."

"Actually, I think I know a faster way out. You'll have to help though."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Telepathy! If my target isn't asleep or in a weak state of mind, I'll need your help to reach them, and talk with them."

"Alright… but I don't know how to use telepathy yet. I mean, I can understand animals, and I talked back to you when you were still in the cabin, but I was just thinking and you heard me."

"Don't worry, I'll guide you through it. Ready?" He nodded, and she closed her eyes which he took as a sign that he should close his own. A moment later, he heard her voice in his head. "_Can you hear me, Sapphire?"_

"Uh, yeah."

"_Think, Sapphire. Don't speak." _

"_Uh, right. Can you hear me? Or, sense me? Whichever."_

"_I can. Now, try to mix your thoughts with my own."_

"…_How, exactly?"_

"_It will come naturally, just focus on me."_

Sapphire tried to focus, and at first, nothing happened, until he tried merging with the presence he felt in his head. When he did, he felt his mind expand with new knowledge, as he felt his soul and mind merge with Willow's, as they became bound by their hearts.

"_I've… I think I've got it!"_

"_Awesome!" _He felt a giggle echo in his head, as well as out loud next to him. "_Now, with us merged you're… the best way to explain it is you're boosting our signal. We can reach our target easily now. As I try and reach them, use your Clairvoyance to try and see where they should go and when to help us."_

"_Uh, alright. I'll try. Don't know how to activate Clairvoyance on command, but sure. And who is our target?"_

There was silence as Willow focused. _"I'm calling out to you who I've never met... I'm calling our friend who we've never met... Anthony, we need your help!" _Sapphire jolted as he saw memories to come.

Combed blond hair

Clean glasses

A pale blue suit and black bow tie

A small toy gun

Rockets, flying everywhere and exploding

A boarding house

A snowy country

A lake

A laboratory, far to the south

A ship, sailing through the sky

Blasting apart a nightmarish machine

"I guess this is goodbye, for now, friends…"

* * *

Far, far away, in the continent of Foggyland, in the land of Winters, there was an academy known as the Snow Wood Boarding House. A genius named Anthony lay, peacefully sleeping. Well, he _was _peacefully sleeping, until something invaded his peaceful dreams… or, really, two voices.

"_My name's Willow, and I'm with my friend Sapphire,"_

"_Hi!"_

"_We are trying to contact you, if you can hear us, please wake up and head… Sapphire, are you getting anything?"_

"_Hold on it's coming and going… I think he has to… head south? That's all I'm getting from my Clairvoyance… to some kind of lab…"_

"_Okay, head south Ant! Even though you are so far away, only you can save us! You are our only hope."_

Anthony shot awake, scrambling around under the covers. What was that? The dream was fading now, but he was quite sure that someone spoke to him… perhaps Tony? He turned to try and see if Tony was awake but scoffed as the room was dreadfully blurry. He turned and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand, and slid them on.

Thankfully the lights were on, even though it was the middle of the night. Tony had a fear of the dark, so he usually would turn them on in the middle of the night if he was scared. But lo and behold, Tony was fast asleep. Perhaps those voices were just part of the dream?

"…_ve you got it? There! Haha!"_

Anthony fell out of his bed, panicked at the sudden voice. It was the higher pitched one, indicating the possibility that it was a girl.

"_So we lost him for a second because he woke up?" _And there was the lower pitched one, though not so low as to indicate a man after puberty had finished, but a boy, perhaps in his very early teens.

"_Yes! The mind is more… Well, it's hard to explain, but it's more open when asleep or stressed, so when he woke up it shook our hold. Anyway, Anthony! Ready to get going?"_

"Wha- what?" He shook his head, slapping himself. "I must still be dreaming, I'm hearing voices in my head…"

"_No, we lost you _because _you woke up! Pay attention!"_

"I…"

There was a groaning, and suddenly his friend Tony was awake. "Ah, hello Anthony. I just had a wonderful dream, that the two of us were taking a walk!"

"A walk? In this weather?" Anthony motioned towards the window, which displayed the slowly falling snowflakes. "I rather think that would be a bit cold!" He tried to push a bit of levity into his tone to hide the panic he felt at people talking inside his head.

"Perhaps," Tony chuckled. He then narrowed his eyes. What's wrong? You look rather pale- well, paler than usual in any case."

"_Knock him out! Ninja style!" _The boy's voice groaned at the girl's declaration and he decided to ignore both.

"I believe I just need some air. You should go back to sleep." Of course, what he didn't say was that he wanted to find a quiet corner to talk with the voices in his head and find a way to get them out. He had a test tomorrow! He couldn't afford other people to be talking in his head during it!

"_What amazing priorities," _the male voice drawled. "_We tell you we're in trouble, and you want us out!"_

"Because people don't have voices in their heads!" He hissed to himself.

"Anthony, are you sure you are alright?"

"Er, yes, yes. Just fine."

"_You know you can think at us, right? And of course everyone has a voice in your head, it's called your thoughts!"_

Anthony just shook his head and walked towards the dresser. He grabbed his pants, blazer, and shoes, changing into them. "Anthony, are you sure you should be taking a walk in the middle of the night? You know the dorm rules."

"Yes. I will be quite fine."

Tony just sighed. "Well, If you're sure… alright, I won't stop you then."

"_Actually, considering how many animals Giygas has corrupted, you might want a weapon. I suggest a baseball bat."_

"_Frying pans are the superior choice."_

"Shut it, I'm not going south!"

Tony recoiled, and Anthony sighed. "My apologies, Tony. I'm… Uh… thinking of heading south."

"_Like a bird!"_

"_Quiet, Willow." _Anthony internally thanked the male voice. "_No problem. And it's Sapphire." _Oh. Right. They could read his thoughts.

"Why are you going south?"

Anthony hesitated. "Because…"

"_You got a letter from your dad and are going to visit him."_

Anthony's eyes narrowed. That _man _was absolutely not his father. The male voice in his head, Sapphire he reminded himself again, seemed to metaphorically recoil at the venom in that one thought.

"_It _would _be a good excuse, however…"_

Anthony breathed in and sighed. "I… received a letter from Doctor Andonuts the other day, and have been debating on whether or not I would go to see him. I have decided I will, and I am going south to see him in his laboratory."

Tony's eyes widened. "Truly? Then I suggest taking some form of weapon with you for defense. There may be some items in the locker room that can assist you. I'll come with you and help you get out."

"I appreciate it, Tony." Tony quickly exited his bed and got dressed. As Tony did so, he grabbed his shoulder bag and slung it on. He did not have much inside, a protractor and a ruler, a boiled egg from breakfast that he wouldn't be touching, a broken spray can that he could use in a machine he could invent, and a recent weapon he'd developed, a big bottle rocket.

Of course, he would only be able to use it once, so he needed a more reliable weapon. When Tony was done getting dressed, they swiftly exited their dorm room. Near the back of the common room, four prefects were discussing something with their backs to them. Anthony quietly nodded at Tony, and they made their way towards the stairs as quietly as possible.

As they snuck, Anthony overheard one of the prefects talking about the lake monster, Tessie. He internally scoffed. It was most likely some doll or other object. After all, while animals may have been attacking people and acting oddly, there was no such thing as monsters. For some reason, the voices in his head snickered at that.

They made it to the stairs without being noticed and began silently descending. They could hear the prefects talking about Stonehenge and the cave boys but quickly snuck out of hearing range. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Anthony made his way towards the locker room, before Tony grabbed his shoulder. "Look, Mr. Maxwell still has his room's light on."

Anthony looked and sure enough, a sliver of light was shining out beneath the door. "So?"

"Shouldn't you say goodbye to him at least? He's definitely the nicest teacher here."

Anthony nodded. "That's very true, we might as well." They approached the door and knocked, before entering. Their teacher, Mr. Maxwell was standing behind his desk, working on a machine. He looked up when they entered and smiled tiredly.

"Ah, Tony, Anthony, you startled me. Are you looking for a late night snack?"

"Not necessarily, sir."

"Hm." He turned back to the machine in front of him. "I'm having a bit of trouble with my project. If only…" his eyes looked towards Anthony, before turning back. "Well, never mind that." Anthony smiled slightly. Maxwell knew of his dislike of his father and always made sure to steer conversations away from Doctor Andonuts when he came up.

"_Wait, so your name is Anthony Andonuts?" _There was a snickering from the male voice, and Anthony sighed.

"Anyway sir, I wanted to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"I'm… leaving Snow Wood for a bit."

"Really? I wasn't told of this." As Anthony tried to come up with an explanation, the teacher laughed. "Well, I'll make sure to come up with a good excuse for the other teachers then. But do make sure to call every once in a while, it'll be like saving your game!" The male voice in his head muttered something about that being oddly familiar. "But remember, this is real life, not a game."

"Of course, sir."

"If you're going to be leaving, you'll need some protection… if you're going to the locker room, take this key with you. It's a touch bent, however…" Maxwell handed them a key, and Anthony stuck it in his pocket. "Good luck!"

"Thank you, sir." They exited the room and walked into the one right next door. Anthony walked up to a locker and tried inserting the key, but it was immediately made apparent that the key was too bent to work. He sighed and handed it to Tony. "Do you mind giving that back to Maxwell? I'll see if any other lockers are open."

"Of course!" Tony left the room, and Anthony looked around for anybody else. When he saw no one else, he tried talking to the voices in his head.

"Hello?"

"_No need to whisper, we're right here!" _The female, Willow, said. Thought? "_Well… I'd say it's technically thought. I don't really know though. Not like there's a rule book that comes with having psychic powers."_

"_That would certainly make it easier," _Sapphire snorted.

"Now that we're alone- who are you, people?!"

"_Hey, we already said- people in need of saving! And only you can do it!" _

"Why should I believe you? Or believe that you're even real? You could just be my imagination from… from stress or some other ailment!"

"_Ailment? Aren't you a smarty pants."_

"_Hush, Sapphire," _Willow said that with a disapproving tone, but there was a touch of humor. "_And, well, I guess there's really no reason to believe us, except the goodness of your heart."_

"What makes you think I'm nice?"

"_You're one of the Chosen, duh." _The male voice seemed to shrug.

"Chosen?"

"_To make a long story short, a great evil is coming to destroy the earth, in fact, many of their minions have already arrived. The animals going crazy? They are being affected by Giygas' evil presence. But there's a prophecy, that four kids, one girl, and three boys, will save the earth."_

"While that sounds very nice, there is still no proof that this is real."

Silence. "_I guess, like Willow said, you'll have to just believe us out of the goodness of your heart. It's not like we have physical proof."_

Anthony sighed, and crossed his arms, thinking. The voice had just admitted that there was truly no reason to believe them, so he should really just go back to his room, and go to bed… but for some odd reason, his heart was urging him to go, to save them. "…All right. I'll do it."

"_Great!" _At that moment, Tony came back into the room holding a small box. He handed it to Anthony who looked it over. It was very plain, except for one side which had a green button, and the opposite side which had an empty lengthwise slot, about the size of a key.

"What's this?"

"Something Mr. Maxwell was making, apparently. He had some long name for it, but I think the 'Bad Key Machine' is a better name."

"_Still a weird name…" _Willow's voice huffed an affirmative at Sapphire's words.

"Fair." He looked around the locker room. "What locker should I use it on?"

Tony pointed at one in the back of the room. "That one is the confiscated items locker. Everything the teachers and prefects confiscate from students goes into the locker."

"Hm." He walked towards it and looked at the Bad Key Machine, before holding up the slot to the keyhole, and pressing the button. The box whirred before rumbling, and a click was heard. Anthony pulled the Machine away from the locker and pulled on it to see it open easily. "It works well."

He poked his head inside and looked around. His eyes widened when he saw a small pop gun and picked it up. "_Isn't that a toy for kids?"_

"_Yes, but look at this," _Anthony thought to Sapphire and Willow, "_The chamber which stores the air pressure that normally launches the bb's has been modified." _He turned it over and pulled off several pieces. "_It can store much more pressure, meaning it could puncture skin. This thing can probably do some real damage, which must be why it was confiscated."_

"_...Huh. Okay."_

He put the Pop Gun in the waistband of his pants, before going back to rooting through the locker. He grabbed a BB pouch that probably came with the gun, and made sure to put that safely in his pocket. He then found a hat that looked similar to Sherlock Holmes', and almost thought about taking it before a simultaneous and deadpan "_No," _from the voices in his stopped him. He rolled his eyes and moved it aside, finding what looked like a broken air gun.

He hummed before taking it and sticking it inside his bag. He could probably invent something more useful than the Pop Gun with it later. With that done, he stood up and closed the locker. "That's everything useful. This should be enough to protect me."

"Let's get going then." Tony nodded. "Unless you run into any monsters you'll be completely fine." He snickered, and Anthony rolled his eyes.

"Monsters don't exist. Honestly, I told you not to watch that horror film last week but you did anyway."

"It was school movie night, I had to be brave!"

Anthony rolled his eyes and they walked out of the locker room. They passed by several classrooms before they exited the school. Outside, the cold air nipped at Anthony and he rubbed his arms to warm up as they walked towards the gate. As they neared it, tony jogged forward and knelt over, motioning towards his back. "Here, use me as a step to get over the gate."

"Uh, Thanks, Tony." Anthony climbed on top of him, before jumping and grabbing the top of the gate, and kicking his feet against the bars. He eventually was able to gain purchase and pulled himself up, kicking his feet up onto the top of the gate, careful not to hurt his legs on the spikes. He looked back down, to see Tony smiling up at him.

"Well, I'll say goodbye for now…" His smile grew. "I don't know when I'll see you next, but just remember, we're best friends forever."

"Of course." He smiled and nodded. "We're best friends forever." He hopped over the gate, thumping down into the grass. Luckily, there was a light dusting of snow that lightened the impact. He stood up straight as Tony walked back inside, observing Winters. Small hills dipped and rose, while the wilderness began in the distance. Light snow fell, and in the distance, he could hear the howling of some kind of animal. "I'm bloody insane…"

"_Eh, everyone's a bit insane."_

"_Yep! Luckily, you've got us to take care of you!" _Anthony shook his head, checking the Pop Gun. It could hold five BB's at a time before he had to reload, which he kept in mind. He put it back on his waistband, before walking forward, eyes focused south. To the future.

"_That was so cliche."_

* * *

**Through the cold of Winters we yeet. Don't know if anyone's done what I'm doing with Anthony/Jeff continuously communicating with Sapphire/Ness and Willow/Paula, so that'll be a new one.**

**So I give some info on the clairvoyance abilities of the two Chosen. Hope the explanation made some sense.**

**And even though Threed was about 60% of the chapter, it still felt short... but don't worry, we'll explore it more when we get back to it. **

**It was odd writing Anthony, considering he doesn't have any powers and is supposed to be an out of shape nerd. Well, writing him was sort of easy, but the battle scenes I wrote in the next few chapters were harder. I'm used to writing battle scenes between either experienced fighter as I do in my other stories, both on and stories I write for myself, or characters that have extremely powerful abilities, like Sapphire and Willow, or characters from my other stories. But I found a way around that. **

**And you'll probably have noticed I tried making Anthony sound smart by making him sound British because I assume smart people talk either British-ly or just use big words like Supercallifragilliciousexpialidcious. Yeah. **

**But anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed, leave a review or something saying "sweet" if you liked the chapter. See y'all next chapter. **


	9. Chapter 9: Winters is Coming

Chapter Nine: Winters is coming

Before Anthony even took a step, he felt his stomach growl. "_You've gotta be kidding me, already?"_

"Listen, it is the middle of the night! The last time I ate was several hours ago!" He sighed, scratching his head. As he did, he saw the school's drugstore nearby and decided to buy a snack there.

"_Why is the drugstore outside the school itself?"_

"So no students attempt to buy stuff they should not have. If they need anything they can get a teacher and have them go with them to be supervised."

"_Okay, that makes some sense then." _He entered the store, ignoring the voices as one started excitedly chirping about the kitchen aisle, and the other began going on about the sports aisle. It didn't take a genius to guess which was which.

Instead, he just approached the counter and grabbed a Calorie Stick from a snack holder. "…_that sounds absolutely disgusting."_

"It is," he sighed, "it really is." He bought the stick with some money he had saved in his bag and began eating it as he turned to leave. He then stopped in his tracks. A monkey was jumping around back and forth between shelves and aisles as an employee tried to catch it. "How did I not notice that coming in?"

"_How did WE not catch that?" _Willow asked Sapphire.

"That damn monkey seems to show up every day to cause trouble," The man behind the counter said. "And he always tries to steal our gum!"

"Truly? Have you attempted to lure it away _with _gum?" The store clerk seemed to pause, and Anthony could practically see the 'Processing' behind his eyes. Anthony sighed, and handed over a dollar. "Here, allow me." The clerk handed him a pack of bubble gum.

He turned and pulled a stick of gum out, before discarding its wrapper. He waved it in the air for the monkey to notice, which it quickly did. It jumped down from a shelf and bound onto the employee's face, before leaping off the man's face and onto his shoulder. It grabbed the gum and shoved it into his mouth, chowing down on it.

"Thank you so much," the employee said. Anthony nodded and began exiting the store. As he got back into the cold Winters air, the monkey blew a large bubble and began floating off his shoulder.

He watched the monkey rise with a disbelieving expression. "That is not how bubbles work."

"_Oh you're gonna see a lot of weird stuff," _Sapphire presumably deadpanned.

He just shook his head in response and continued walking. The monkey's bubble quickly popped, and he fell down onto his shoulder again. They walked- well, he walked, Bubble Monkey rode his shoulder, further down the rolling hills of Winters, the grass crunching under his feet.

He heard cawing coming from the trees and looked around for any crows. "_Er, careful there Blondie, if these crows are the crows I think they are you might have a fight coming."_

"Pardon?" Before the voice in his head could explain, the cawing grew louder, and he was suddenly thrown onto his posterior when a mass of dark feathers slammed into him. He tumbled back, even as Bubble Monkey let off a screech and jumped from his shoulders.

He let out a yell as the object, which he swiftly identified as a crow, began pecking and clawing at his face. He rolled onto his stomach, to either cause the crazed animal to lift off or risk getting crushed under him. It seemed the animal's survival instincts had left it, however, as it continued to attack even as he crushed it beneath him.

"_These things aren't normal animals, don't think of them as just being crazed, they're solely focused on killing you! So you have to kill _them _first!" _Anthony winced at the shout in his head and quickly backpedaled. His hand went to the Pop gun in his belt and drew it out. He'd just wanted to use it to defend himself, not kill creatures… but if it was the only way…

He aimed down the toy sights and fired. The gun kicked more than it should have but _much _less than an actual gun would have. A pellet shot out of the barrel and slammed into the crow as it flew back into the air, sending it tumbling to the ground, squirting blood from its wing. The perfect shot, hitting the joint that connects the Coracoid, the blade of Scapula, and the Humerus. Essentially a shoulder for the crow, it would not be flying again.

Both he and the male voice in his head gagged, while the female voice advised him to shoot it again since even without a wing it was crawling towards him. Although now that it was impeded, he could see that its beak wasn't following the rules of biology as it was seemingly grinning, and its eyes were shielded by some sort of dark energy.

"_Pure malice," _Willow whispered before Sapphire presumably flicked her nose, or something similar. Either way, Anthony lifted his foot, hesitated for a moment, before stomping with as much force as he could. There was a horrifying and sickening _crunch _from beneath his foot, and when he lifted it the crow looked as normal as any other crow, no dark energy and beak adhering to the standards of biology.

"That was…"

"_A creature infected with Giygas' evil, twisting their minds. there will be more," _Sapphire intoned. "_I didn't like killing them either, I still don't. But it's necessary."_

"I suppose so." He felt a weight on his shoulder and turned his head to see that Bubble Monkey had climbed back on. "Where on earth did you go?"

The monkey chattered at him, before holding out his hand. He stared for a moment before sighing and fishing out a piece of gum to give to him. Bubble Monkey began blowing on it as they walked, floating over his shoulder. He tried not to think about how that wasn't possible, focusing on how psychic voices in his head also wasn't possible.

So all in all, he still thought this was all pretty weird.

More cawing sounded out, and he readied his gun again. The things were more resilient than normal avians if they could take a bullet, even if it were just a pellet, and continue trying to attack him. There were several more caws, and the rustling of branches and leaves above his head alerted him to attackers from above.

The first crow burst through the tree cover and was met with a pellet to the forehead as Anthony targeted its weak point. It was instantly killed as the pellet tore through its Cerebellum, tumbling to the grass. Another two flew through the trees, grinning with their odd beaks, before Anthony shot one in the Humerus of it's left wing, sending it tumbling into the second. They both crashed into a tree before Anthony took aim and shot both in the brain.

Out of ammunition, he stopped to refill the weapon with more pellets. "_Those were some nice shots, dude."_

"The gun doesn't have enough kickback to throw my aim off, and I've studied bird anatomy enough to know what will cripple or kill. I've studied many animals anatomy's for that matter."

"_Huh, guess you can tell me just where I should've hit them with my bat to do the most damage then."_ Anthony just sighed and continued walking.

After walking through several more bushes and copses of trees, he paused when he heard rustling, lifting his gun. Suddenly, with an extreme amount of speed, several dogs shot out of the brush. Bubble Monkey screeched and jumped away, climbing a tree while Anthony fell backward in shock, surprised at the speed of the animals. The first one leaped forward and bit down on his leg, causing him to cry out before he aimed his weapon and fired a pellet, which smashed through the skull of the animal, and through the rightmost side of its brain.

His pant leg was slightly torn from the rabid dog's bite, but he ignored that in favor of scooting back along the ground, firing several more shots at the oncoming animals. Two were killed by pellets to the cerebrum, but his panicked shooting meant his aim was off, and he shot the fourth dog in the leg, possibly injuring its Radius or Ulna bone, possibly both, while a fifth was shot in the mandible.

The gun clicked in his hand as the sixth and final dog jumped forward. He rolled to the side, hands scrabbling for his pellet bag. "_Get up and run!" _He followed the advice, scrambling for his feet and running through the trees, wincing as his injured leg throbbed, but adrenaline managed to at least dull the pain. He jumped over several roots and ducked under a few branches, before managing to reload his weapon just as the final dog caught up with him.

He was thrown forward as the dog jumped and slammed into his back before he swiftly rolled over as to not be completely defenseless on his stomach. He tried to aim the gun as the dog jumped on him, but he was too slow as it was knocked away, and the dog lunged for his neck. He tried to hold it back with his right arm, using his forearm to press against its throat and hold it back, while his other arm scrambled through the grass, reaching for his weapon.

With every lunge against his arm, the dog got closer to ripping out his throat and diaphragm, as his strength faltered. It wasn't like he was built for fighting, he was an inventor, a scientist! He spent his nights making new objects, and the day researching, he had no reason to exercise before today! "_Let go, and twist your weight to use its momentum against it!"_

He hesitated for a moment, before dropping his guard. The dog lunged forward, and he twisted on the ground, sending it tumbling off of him. As it scrambled, confused, he dove for his gun, bringing it up and firing. The pellet slammed into the confused and crazed animal's breast, presumably slipping through its ribs and into its heart, possibly tearing apart the right ventricle.

The dog shuddered and blood spilled from its mouth and the hole in its breast, before it stumbled forward, dead. Anthony sat there for a full second, before falling back and staring at the sky. The only sounds for a minute we're the calls of normal birds and the rustling of grass, as he thought about what just happened. "…I almost died."

"…_Yeah," _Willow acknowledged.

"And… this will happen often?"

"_Hopefully not." _It seemed that Willow attempted to inject some levity to her statement, but even she seemed to realize it fell flat.

"I don't know if I can do this…" the voices stayed silent. Bubble Monkey jumped down from a tree branch, nudging him, before curling up against him. He eventually sighed and got up, letting Bubble Monkey climb onto his shoulder before continuing to walk towards the south. He hopped down a short ledge, brushing off his pants.

When he looked up, he saw several large tents and a lake ahead of him. He walked forward, passing by one of the tents as a man came out. He wore standard safari gear, which was probably cold in the Winters weather, and had a pair of binoculars around his neck."Oh hello, have you also been bitten by Tessie-mania?"

"…Pardon?"

"Tessie, the lake creature!"

"…Yeah, sure."

"Apparently Tessie will appear tomorrow, rising out of Lake Tess! As a part of the Tessie-Watching Club, I can't wait!" Anthony just nodded, taking a step back. Honestly, to believe in such an idiotic idea as a lake creature. He steadfastly ignored the laughing in his head.

"Will there be a sign that Tessie is appearing?" He'd like to be there, just to prove that it was a doll or some easily explainable answer.

Another member of the club approached, a grin on their face as they spoke, "Apparently the wind is always blowing when Tessie appears!" The man sneezed suddenly, and Bubble Monkey held out his gun wrapper for the man to use as a tissue.

"Gesundheit."

"_Did you sneeze too? Bless you!"_

"_No I didn't sneeze, that's a sophisticated way of saying bless you," _Anthony haughtily thought at Sapphire.

"Bless you," the man said.

Anthony just sighed at the idiocy of everyone around him, "Perhaps you should get inside, I believe you are catching a cold. If the wind begins blowing you'll…ugh… know that Tessie is approaching."

"Great idea!" The man entered a tent, and a third man walked up.

"Are you here to join the club?"

"No, I'm just passing through. I need to find a way around to the south side of the lake."

"Hmm. Well, it'll take you a few days if you try and go around the cliffs beside the lake, so unless you can find some way across the lake you'll be out of luck."

"Of course," he sighed.

"Would you like some hot food? If you're going to be traveling that far you should have some food."

"Oh, that would be very kind of you, you have my thanks." He gave a small bow, before following the man into a tent. Inside another man was stirring a pot, who glanced up as they entered.

"Hello, a new member?"

"Ah, no just a traveler, sir. I was offered the opportunity to stop and rest for a bit, which I thank you for."

"No problem, kid!" The cook grabbed a bowl and poured some of the stew that was in the pot into the bowl, before handing it over to the blond.

He took it and grabbed the spoon the cook also handed over, before beginning to eat. His eyes lit up and he began shoveling the food in, forgetting his normal eating etiquette. He slowed down when he heard laughing from the men and the voices in his head, and blushed as he wiped at his mouth. "Pardon me, but this is rather good…" Bubble Monkey grabbed a spoon and had some as well, before clapping his hands in approval.

After he finished eating he sighed and sat back, feeling his eyes droop. He hadn't gotten a full nights sleep when he'd been woken up, so he was still tired. The men noticed this and pointed towards a sleeping bag in the corner. "Why don't you get some rest? It's a bit late for kids to be up. That bag is Jeffery's, but he's on the watch for Tessie for the rest of the night so you can use it for now."

"Thank you very much, sir." He wandered to the bag and lay down, removing his bag and glasses before falling asleep with Bubble Monkey sleeping next to him. After what felt like a few minutes, but what was presumably a few hours thanks to how it felt time worked in dreams, he found himself in a small cave, with a metal door embedded in a wall and two other kids about his age, one a girl and one a boy.

He approached them, and they finally looked up when he neared. For some reason, heavy shadows were covering their faces, although that could have just been the darkness of the room, even with the luminescent stones in the ceiling. "Howdy, Ant."

"...Sapphire?"

"Right in one." The boy sat with his legs folded and leaned forward slightly. You know, the reception is much better than when Willow first tried talking with me in my sleep."

"That's because we have you as a signal booster," Willow giggled. Anthony spotted a flash of pink and yellow, likely her clothes or hair. Maybe both. "Either way, we wanted to show you that this isn't an illness, or you going insane, or whatever you tried to justify voices in your head as."

"This could just be a dream," he drawled.

"Yeah, okay," he couldn't see it, but he was sure that the boy had stuck his tongue out or rolled his eyes. "Either way, you already know where to go, south, then a bit to the west. How you get there I've got no idea."

"Aren't you helpful," he shook his head.

"You say that now, but wait until you've got a mortal injury and need me to heal you. By the way, that wound from the rabid dog wasn't too deep, so you should be able to move in the morning without pain. I still suggest wrapping it with something."

"Of course, I'm not idiotic."

"You talk funny," Willow giggled.

"Pardon?"

"There it is again!"

Sapphire sighed. "Anyway, we'll cut off the telepathy now. We all need some sleep. We'll talk in the morning.

"Hm," He grunted. "Alright then. I'll talk with you then." The cave faded from view into blackness, before he lost consciousness and entered the realm of true dreams. After a few hours, he woke up and reached for his glasses. When he finally slipped them on he yawned and peered outside the tent, to see that it was still incredibly dark out, so he crawled back into his sleeping bag and tried to fall back asleep. Once he couldn't, he sighed and reached into his bag, grabbing the broken spray can and some tools.

A few hours later, he had what he'd dubbed the Defense Spray, considering it had hardened the floor underneath him when he'd tried spraying it, and looked outside to see that the sun had finally risen. He heard a murmur in his head that he recognized as the telepathy of one of the two Chosen that were trapped, and tried to think back at them. "_Hello?"_

"_...ere we are. Good morning, Anthony!"_

"_Howdy, Ant."_

He just nodded his head, before looking down at his leg. He had a few puncture marks from where the dog had bitten him the night before, but they weren't that deep. They could still get infected though, so he reached for his sleeve, and after a moment's hesitation, ripped part of his sleeve and leaned down to tie it around his wounds as a makeshift bandage. Bubble Monkey woke up as he was doing so, and climbed onto his shoulder.

After he was done, he exited the tent to see the bright sun high in the sky. He shivered a moment later as a breeze blew by and the cold wind brushed against his sleeveless skin, causing goosebumps to appear. He rubbed his arm and walked forward, towards the lake. He idly noticed that a light snow had fallen during the night, as the dry grass was now covered in a light layer of frost. "So, how are we getting across…"

Suddenly, one of the Tessie-Watchers slammed into him from behind, pointing out at the lake. "Look! It's finally emerging! Finally, it's coming out!" Anthony turned his head to see that there was some kind of whirlpool in the lake, by a small peninsula a few feet by a few feet. Could that truly be Tessie the lake monster? The-

There was a fart noise, and Anthony blandly turned his gaze to the man next to him. "Ah, sorry…" the man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, before turning back to the whirlpool. "But seriously, this could finally be it!"

He walked around the man to get a better view of the whirlpool, all while the various club members all whispered excitedly to each other, cameras at the ready. "Pictures taken instantaneously!"

"_Oh god, he's everywhere!" _Anthony turned to see that somehow, a man in a black suit with blond hair had appeared on the small peninsula, and had a camera at the ready.

"What are you talking about? He's probably another member of the club." But why wasn't the man aiming his camera at the whirlpool? He was aiming it at him, for some reason.

"I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself! Alright, get ready for an instant memory! Look at the camera, ready? Say, Fuzzy Pickles!"

"_Don't watch the camera, watch him! Don't get blinded by the light!" _Anthony was very confused at the outburst but decided to follow the advice. However, when he tried to look away from the camera, a leaf blown by the wind smacked into his face, obstructing his view. There was a _snap _and when he finally got the leaf off his face, the cameraman was gone.

"What?"

There was a smacking sound as if Sapphire had slammed his fist into his hand. "_He somehow managed to get off the peninsula, and since you're right at the edge of it, you would have felt him brush by! He's magic!"_

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation," he muttered. He walked forward, to where the man had stood, and peered in the water. Nothing. "Excuse me, did any of you gentlemen see where that man in a black suit went?"

"What man?"

"…Huh." Anthony turned back around. "Well, perhaps we imagined it…"

"_Yeah, sure, all three of us imagined that!"_ There was a loud snort before presumably, Willow smacked Sapphire on the back of the head. "_Ow!"_

"_Don't be a meanie to Anthony, Sapph!"_

"_Hey, I'm just saying…"_

Anthony sighed and crossed his arms. He still needed to get across the lake, but with no way in sight, he'd have to go around and was that whirlpool getting bigger? Anthony watched, deadpan, as a large blue head began rising from the lake, a derpy smile on its face, as it grew taller and taller. The head was held up by a several foot neck before it's back breached the water, and it turned to smile at him.

"…I need a drink."

"_Aren't you our age?"_

"Of coffee, or something else to wake me up, because I refuse to believe Tessie the lake monster is real."

"_But you'll believe that we need to save the world of course!"_

Anthony just sighed, before Bubble Monkey began jumping up and down on his shoulder. Anthony absentmindedly fished out a stick of gum to give him, which the monkey quickly began chewing and blowing on. A moment later Bubble Monkey had blown a big enough bubble to float, and landed on Tessie's head. "_Hey Anthony, why not ride Tessie across?"_

"That's just stupid enough to work," Anthony drily replied.

"_I think we broke him," _Sapphire mock-whispered.

Anthony carefully got onto Tessie's back, before slipping and landing on his butt, due to the water running down her hide. He groaned in discomfort at the feeling of his wet pants sticking to his skin, before carefully getting back up and gripping her neck. "Uh, go."

Tessie let out a cry and began swimming through the lake, with Anthony holding on tightly. Several leaves smacked into his face, which he swatted away, annoyed. "This is inane…"

"_You mean insane?"_

"Ugh…" eventually, they reached the other side of the lake and began… surfing down the coast of it. Eventually, Tessie slowed down, and Anthony hopped off onto dry land with Bubble Monkey jumping back onto his shoulder.

However, he froze when he heard a deep growling, and looked into the trees to see two eyes glaring out. "_Move!" _Anthony dove to the side and sent Bubble Monkey flying just in time, as a large goat barreled out at him. It spun when it missed, scrambling around in the snow before glaring at him again.

"_Blast it," _Willow cried. Anthony quickly brought up his gun and fired, blasting three pellets at the Gruff looking Goat. It grunted when they impacted but charged again and managed to hit him before he could dodge, throwing him into the air with its powerful neck muscles and horns.

He cried out as he flew, before landing with an 'Oof!' The Gruff Goat stamped on the ground, before charging at him again, however, before it could reach him, Bubble Monkey leaped forward and latched onto its head, screeching up a storm. The goat screeched to a halt and began leaping up and down, allowing Anthony to scramble to his feet and grab his gun. He took careful aim, before firing a pellet directly into the goat's eye.

It roared in anger and stumbled back before he put another round in its other eye. It fell silent and collapsed, letting Anthony fall onto his butt and breath a sigh of relief. He smiled and gave Bubble Monkey a pat on the head as he came over, "my thanks, friend." Bubble Monkey hopped onto his shoulder and began combing through his hair, so he got up and began walking again as he reloaded his weapon.

After a few minutes worth of walking, he reached a large ledge that would seriously harm him if he tried to climb down it, and the only path down being blocked by… "A metal pencil statue?"

"_There's one there too?"_

"What do you mean, here too?"

"_When I was saving Willow from a group of cultists obsessed with the color blue, which I took heavy offense to, by the way, no one should desecrate the color blue like that, a statue like that one blocked my path. I used a device to destroy it, but you don't have one like that…"_

After listening to Sapphire's rant, he began looking for another way around. He eventually found a small cave entrance with the words 'This dungeon has no entrance fee. Come on in!' "Think that will lead somewhere?"

"_Even if it doesn't, it could be fun!" _

"_But it probably does," _Sapphire added. Anthony shrugged and walked inside, and was immediately greeted by another sign. This one read, 'Welcome to my modest dungeon! —Brick Road.'

"Well, let's see where it leads…" Anthony began walking, following a path laid out by boulders. After a minute of walking, he heard squeaking and looked down to see a mouse running at him. There was an unmanly shriek in his head, yet it was just manly enough that he could attribute it to Sapphire. Bubble Monkey let off a similar one, but more in curiosity at the mouse.

"_Kill it!"_ Anthony rolled his eyes and brought up his gun, blasting at it. However the mouse was faster than he expected, and it dodged to the side, before leaping at him. He fell back and left off a similarly unmanly shriek as it began crawling on him, before biting down on his hand as he tried to throw it away. He slammed his hand into a boulder next to him, causing it to let go, before he scooched backward and brought up his gun, blasting it with the rest of his clip.

The mouse had several holes blasted through it before Anthony lowered his weapon and groaned. "_You're both scared of mice," _Willow giggled.

"Shut _it," _both himself and Sapphire muttered at the same time, causing her giggles to grow louder. Bubble Monkey pat his head and laughed. Anthony began walking again, eventually reaching a dead end with a present at the end. He raised an eyebrow and reached inside, grabbing a Bread Roll. He raised an eyebrow before biting into it, turning around and walking back to try a different path.

"_So, you don't heal from eating…"_

"What? Why would I heal from eating? Of course, my body will use the nutrients and calories I gain from this food to begin hea—"

"_Okay, enough of the science jibber-jabber," _Sapphire interrupted. "_Me and Willow can heal ourselves by eating near immediately, not slowly by ingesting calories, or whatever you were yammering on about."_

"That's not how it should work, but if you plebeians do not wish to learn actual science…." Double snorts from inside his brain followed. He eventually reached the entrance and began going down a different path. This one was the same as the first, lined with boulders, and similarly, another mouse scurried out from under a boulder and jumped at him.

Anthony managed to keep his cool long enough to shoot it out of the air with his reloaded weapon, and quickly stomped it underfoot before it could recover. "Not this time," he muttered. Continuing on, he reached another dead end along with a second present. Opening it, he found a can of insecticide spray. "I can't see much use for this…"

"_Keep it, you can probably sell it at a store or something." _

"True." Back to backtracking. The third path he followed went on for a few minutes, until he came to a T-intersection, with a present on the ground. He knelt to open it, only for both Sapphire and Willow to yell about danger, and for the top to burst open and some weird blue creature to jump out at him. "Whoa!"

The creature slammed into him… and fell to the ground. Anthony blinked and looked at it, waiting for something to happen. It attacked him again, before simply rebounding off his chest. "What a Worthless Protoplasm…" he muttered to himself, before walking away. He would have honestly felt bad about killing it since even if it was corrupted and evil, it literally couldn't do anything to him.

He turned left and wandered down the path, only for the path to make a one-eighty and lead towards yet another present. "What's with this guy and presents?" Opening it he found an odd contraption that looked similar to a broken iron. He looked it over before slipping it into his bag, figuring he could turn it into something else.

Walking back the way he'd come, he paused when he reached the intersection. "Oh." Where there had just been one Worthless Protoplasm, now there were several dozen. They all turned to him, and he slowly waved. Bubble Monkey just whimpered.

"_You ready with that one song for chase sequences? Yeah? Okay. Ahem. RUN!" _Anthony turned and immediately fell back as several more Protoplasms began crawling across the boulders behind him, splitting up and duplicating.

"Oh." They began leaping at him and he rolled over to crush them, sprinting towards the larger crowd of them. Even if there were more in that direction, it at least wasn't a dead end, or at least he thought it wasn't. He scrambled through the crowd of them, feeling them grab on and try slowing him down.

He tripped and fell, feeling them stick to his clothes and begin holding him down as Bubble Monkey sailed through the air. "Ack, get off get off get off!" His struggles began weakening, not because he was losing strength but because more and more Protoplasms were climbing on and merging with each other, making their weight grow. Anthony was not sure how that worked, he knew they could split and multiply incredibly quickly considering how fast they had multiplied, but how they managed to grow to full size and weight so quickly without nutrients or something similar made no sense.

"_STOP FOCUSING ON THEIR BIOLOGY FOR ONE SECOND AND SCIENCE YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS SITUATION!"_

Anthony tried to do as Sapphire mentally screamed, but it was hard to focus, especially with how the Protoplasms were beginning to cover his mouth and restrict his airflow. "Mph! MMPH!"

"_Stop panicking, just think," _Willow soothed. He slowed down and nodded. Alright, what could he do? His gun would blast them apart but with so many of them, it would do practically nothing. Something in his bag? The Bottle Rocket! He wiggles around, arms reaching for his bag. With his body being covered he couldn't move that much, but the bag was also being covered and squeezed down next to him.

He slithered a hand inside until he could feel the handle of his rocket, and pulled it out. He moved it until it pointed up, even though his wrist was screaming in pain at the odd angle, and the weight slamming down. His mind began shutting down due to oxygen deprivation, but he just managed to flip the trigger on his weapon, setting off the internal countdown, which matched his own.

It was getting dark…

"_Anthony, just a little longer!"_

"_Willpower…" _he thought back, "_doesn't have anything to do with bloody oxygen deprivation…"_

"_You can hold on, we believe in you!"_

Well… it's not like he would die right away… just fall unconscious. He'd be… fine…

BAM!

Anthony jerked, eyes widening as he could finally breathe and gasped. When the explosion went off the Protoplasms clustered and merged on his back were disintegrated, while all the others were blown away. He coughed a horrible, hacking cough, and scrambled to his feet, lightheaded.

He began stomping around and crushing all the remaining Protoplasms, while Bubble Monkey jumped down from a boulder and squished the others. When none were left, Anthony stumbled and fell against a boulder, sighing and leaning his head back against the rock. Bubble Monkey scooched over and sat in his lap, so Anthony tiredly pet the intelligent animal.

"I… need a moment…"

"_Yeah, sure. Take your time." _

Anthony wasn't sure if he passed out for a few minutes, hours, or even if he hadn't slept at all before he got back up. "_Are you alright?" _Willow's voice asked.

"Just fine," he responded.

"_You can rest some more if you need to."_

"No," he replied. It was time to go. His friends needed his help.

* * *

**Almost back in Threed.**

**So yeah, Anthony fights by outsmarting and firing at the weak points of his targets. Tried to look up the names of bones and stuff to show that he's targeting specific places and stuff.**

**Review with something you liked about the chapter, or several things, if you want.**

**See y'all next chapter.**


	10. Return to Threed, The Meeting of Three

Chapter Ten: Return to Threed, The Meeting of Three

Several more twists and turns later and Anthony found himself at another dead end. There was no present at the end of the path, but instead a sign. 'Watch for falling materials! -Brick Road.' Anthony looked around before turning around and jumping when the weird photographer guy was in his face again.

"Pictures taken instantaneously!" The camera guy raised his camera and grinned. "I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself!"

"Where did he come from?!"

"Okay, get ready for an instant memory! Look at the camera… ready… say, Fuzzy Pickles!" A flash of light later and Anthony had to blink away the spots in his eyes. When he opened them, the phantom photographer was gone.

There were three cries of confusion, one from him, two from the voices in his head, before he began walking again. There was a quacking noise and Anthony tilted his head in confusion before a duck waddled around a corner further down the path. "Uh…"

"Quack!" The duck waddled closer, and Willow began cooing in his head.

"_Aww! It's a widdle duckie wuckie!"_

"_Don't you dare start OwO'ing or I swear to god I'll find a way to break out and leave you here."_

"_UwU!" _

"_Oh, god dang it!"_

Anthony ignored them both and knelt down. Something was off about the duck…his suspicions were quickly proven correct when the duck's wide and comical eyes flashed, and Anthony felt his senses distort. A moment later he was back to normal and saw that the Mad Duck had fallen over.

He shook his head, "well, that did nothing. Might as well take it out before it reveals that it's incredibly dangerous, like the Worthless Protoplasms or whatever." He waited for an affirmation from his head but shrugged when nothing came. He raised his gun and fired, sending a pellet through one of its comically large eyes, causing it to explode and send blood and the various fluids in its eye to splash out.

Anthony shivered and rubbed his own eye, feeling tingling in it as he imagined it happening to him. "Ugh, hate that feeling… It's why I never watch gory movies…" He waited for a response, but when none came again, he began getting worried. "Guys? Sapphire? Willow?"

Silence. "Alright, that's slightly worrying…" Anthony continued walking, eventually finding another present at a dead end and opening it to find a croissant. He split it in half, giving one half to Bubble Monkey and the other half to himself. Walking along several more pathways until he reached yet another dead end. "Ugh. I hate mazes."

At least this Brick Road put presents at the dead ends, or he'd be even more annoyed. Rooting around in the present, he whistled and pulled out a Stun Gun. "Holy crap, really?" He turned it over in his hand and weighed it, before smiling and throwing his Pop Gun in his bag. The electrical currents the Stun Gun could shoot out would take care of creatures much easier than his modified Pop Gun, plus, he wasn't limited by having to reload or risk running out of ammo.

Eventually, he made his way to the end of the maze, and smiled when he saw a sign that read: 'Way to go! Please come back again! -Brick Road.' Anthony walked out of the hole in the wall that led back outside and met with a balding man that was muttering to himself. "Maybe it was too easy…?" The man shook his head and smiled at him, "My name's Brickroad, the dungeon developer. I've devoted my life to making dungeons! How did you enjoy this one?"

"I don't usually like mazes because of all the idiotic dead-ends, but I suppose the presents at each one made it a bit more bearable. I'd say it was rather good."

"Ha! Thanks, kid! One day, I'll create the best dungeon in the world!"

"How will you accomplish that?"

"Well, by combining my skills and Doctor Andonut's intelligence, I can become 'Dungeon Man,' the first combination of human and dungeon in history!"

"Uh, right." Anthony's mood soured when he head his 'father's' name.

"Anyway, we should meet again after I've become Dungeon Man!"

"Sure." Anthony waved goodbye to the guy and continued to walk south. After a few hours of walking, with thankfully very few encounters with animals, he reached a cliffside that he couldn't scale, but he _did_ see a hole in the cliffside to the west. Entering it, he was almost immediately assaulted by a horde of Rowdy Mice and shrieked as he fell back. He kicked one away and brought up his Stun Gun to blast another away. Bubble Monkey laughed with a 'kikiki' sound and smacked the third mouse away. With his gun now delivering an electrical shock that would short out his opponent's nervous systems, there was no need to aim for any vital points, because hitting them anywhere would do damage.

He punted another mouse away, before feeling several scampering up his back. He jumped and tried to wipe them away frantically, before running through the cave systems as more and more scampered after him. With so many he would quickly be overwhelmed, so he needed to go, now! He leaped over a mouse that tried to grab onto him before he suddenly felt drowsy. He stumbled and held onto his head, before falling over unconscious.

"_A… Ny… Nt… Hon… Anthony!" _

Anthony felt a jolt of energy shoot through him, and Sapphire's voice echoed through his head. "_Those slugs, they can use some kind of Hypnosis ability like mine, take them out!" _he felt adrenaline course through him and he shot awake, just as a mouse was jumping at him. He rolled aside and saw one of the slugs that Sapphire had told him about and squashed it underfoot. With that out of the way, he continued running into another 'room' in the cave system.

He saw a rope on a small cliff wall and climbed it, scrambling onto a ledge where the hordes of mice couldn't reach him. He heard rustling and turned to see a small mushroom kicking at him before he grabbed it by the cap and threw it into the sea of mice. He pulled the rope up onto the ledge so none of the mice could follow him.

He scooched back until he heard a 'clunk' noise, and turned to see a human skeleton. He shrieked again, and almost fell off of the tiny alcove he found himself on. After scrambling around a moment to hold on, he slowly edged closer to the skeleton. "Imagine it's one of the models from class, imagine it's one of the models from class…" It was disgusting and disturbing, but if the dead man had anything useful he could use, then he had to push past his disgust.

The skeleton had a bag on its back, and pulling at it caused the skeleton to fall apart. He coughed at the dust in the air, before rooting around inside. His eyes lit up when he spotted a Bottle Rocket before realizing that it wasn't as large as his original one, and would pack less of a punch. Either way, it would be useful, and he placed it in his bag.

The only other things inside the bag were a rotten burger and a cheap bracelet, so he placed the bag back by the skeleton before crawling back to the edge of the ledge. There were still dozens of mice down below, so he grimaced and leaned back against the cave wall to wait them out.

He must have fallen asleep sometime during his wait, because all of a sudden, he found himself back in the cell that Sapphire and Willow were in. The first thing he did upon seeing them was to cross his arms and lift an eyebrow. "So, what happened there? Why'd you both start giving me the cold shoulder?"

"It's not like we wanted to," Sapphire answered, shaking his head. Or at least Anthony thought he was since the only impression he got of the boy was a shadowy figure shaking itself. "Whatever that duck did disrupted our PSI. Willow couldn't do anything for a while, and I couldn't be the signal booster she needs to communicate with you so much."

"Pardon, you're telling me a _duck _took out the PSI abilities of two Chosen children?" He began clapping, shaking his own head. "Astonishing."

"Hey, why don't you try fighting an enemy that can directly counter your special power," Willow pouted.

"Anyway," Sapphire butted in, "We should be back to communicating when you wake up."

"Of course. Well, I might as well get in as much sleep as I can, considering the sea of mice that probably still needs to disperse." Sapphire shivered at his words, while Willow giggled.

"Yeah, see you in the morning then. Hopefully, you get us out of here soon. Being stuck in here for basically a full day now is torture."

"Hm." The room blacked out fully, and after what seemed like a few seconds Anthony awoke. He stretched and jumped when he accidentally touched the bones of the dead guy, before crawling to the edge of his tiny perch, and looked down to see that all of the mice had vanished. He threw the rope down and climbed back down.

"_Testing, testing, this thing on?"_

"_From what I know of you, I don't think your brain is usually on." _there were several slapping sounds and laughing, causing Anthony to roll his eyes.

"Pardon, but could you not?"

"_Yeah, whatevs."_ Anthony brushed off his hands and began walking, before coming to a dead end several minutes later.

"Really? I'm out of the maze and I'm _still_ finding dead ends?" He looked around the room, before seeing a length of rope above him on the ledge. "Alright, now how do I grab that…" Bubble Monkey tapped on his shoulder and pointed to his mouth, causing him to roll his eyes and hand him a stick of gum. "Now then." He began tapping his chin and muttering, not noticing Bubble Monkey float up and grab the rope.

He started as the rope dropped onto his head, and looked up to see Bubble Monkey crawling down to jump onto his shoulder. "Oh. Right." He ignored the laughing in his head as he crawled up the rope, almost falling back down when two mushrooms jumped at him as he reached the ledge. He quickly ducked back down and watched them sail over his head, falling to their doom.

He smirked to himself, only for Sapphire to burst his bubble. "_Yes, congratulations on outsmarting a piece of fungus."_

Anthony rolled his eyes and wiped his hands on his shorts, looking around. To the left was a lit up doorway that led outside, while to the right was a… Anthony winced as some sort of pressure slammed into his mind, and he stumbled back, nearly falling off the ledge. Bubble Monkey whimpered and hid behind his head. What could be causing that? Anthony slowly approached the doorway, entranced, until a large shadow began filling up the doorway.

"You… You are not Sapphire…" Anthony's mind grated as the voice slammed through him. "But… ah. I feel him on you, his presence… You are one of the Chosen! This is not your Sanctuary, but I will gladly kill you, for daring to come alone! For Lord Giygas!"

Suddenly, Sapphire and Willow's voices reached him, as if they had been drowned out by the menacing creature's voice. "_RUN!" _He turned and began sprinting, Running out of the cave and into the chilly Winters air. He continued running for several minutes, assuming that no matter how badly that monster wanted to kill him, it wouldn't abandon that Sanctuary, or whatever.

"_Well, I guess we found where another Sanctuary is," _Sapphire muttered.

After running some more, Anthony slowed to a walk, huffing. Both out of breath, and at the sight ahead of him. Ahead was Stonehenge, the mysterious rock structures, and further south, he could spot the metallic building that was his 'father's' laboratory. Bubble Monkey perked up all of a sudden and leaped off of his shoulder. Anthony watched him go and snorted when he spotted the monkey running towards another monkey with a bow in its hair. Or her hair, he supposed.

He shook his head as he began walking through Stonehenge, looking at the mysterious rock structures. He heard a rustling behind him and looked back, expecting more dogs or a goat, and instead saw what looked like a large caveman, with the large club and all. "Uhhh…"

"_I think you should get going."_

"_Yeah…"_

The Cave Boy roared and began stomping towards him, causing him to scream and begin sprinting away. He heard it stomping after him before he scrambled around the side of one of the stones and hid behind it. The Cave Boy stomped around and looked for him before scratching their head and stomping back. Anthony waited a minute to make sure they were gone, before sighing and walking towards the laboratory.

He walked up to the laboratory's front door and breathed in. Here it goes. He'd be seeing his 'father' for the first time in ten years.

* * *

Anthony entered the laboratory, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the man with white hair and glasses standing at a table and looking through a microscope. He shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat. When the man didn't respond, he repeated his action but louder. When the man _still _didn't respond, he walked over and wrenched the man away from his work. "AHEM!"

"Hm?" The man calmly adjusted his glasses. "And who are you?"

Anthony immediately felt rage build up, but Sapphire and Willow began calming him down from inside his head, so he just sighed and raised his head to look the man in the eyes. Or glasses, he supposed. "I'm Anthony." No response. "Anthony Andonuts."

"Ah, my son!"

"Yes. Anthony." He stressed his name. How dare the man call him his son after punting him away to a boarding school for a full decade!

"Ah, right…" an awkward silence fell over them before the man cleared his throat. "So, I'm glad to see you're such a healthy boy."

"Really? Wow, that contradicts the fact that you never visited, or even called to check on me!"

"Er, those glasses look good on you."

"What an amazing compliment."

"…want a donut?"

"...Screw it, I'm hungry. This doesn't mean I like you though."

"Uh…" the man coughed awkwardly, "well, I was only offering, I don't really have any, and I'd like one too…"

"Great."

"…Have you already checked out Stonehenge?"

"Yes, and was almost attacked by a Cave Boy."

"Well, at least I asked… hmm… okay. By the way, why are you here?"

Anthony's fists clenched, and Sapphire and Willow had to quickly soothe him again before he did anything. "I need to meet with two friends in Eagleland. Sapphire and Willow. Apparently, you have some way of getting me to them quickly."

"Ah, how did they know I've been working on a Phase Distorter, a machine to connect two points in space and time?"

"They're psychic."

"Oh, okay! I thought I recognized one of those names! Willow is the special girl from Twoson isn't she? Either way, the Phase Distorter isn't complete yet, so you'll have to take the Sky Runner." He walked to into a back room, and Anthony followed him, but not before grabbing a broken pipe and putting it into his bag, because why not? It could be a long flight, something to fix would take some boredom away. Andonuts held his hand out to show him a large, steel-gray ball that looked similar to a rounder version of a UFO, with an antenna atop it. "It's a little old, but it'll certainly help. When you board, just listen to the message that comes from your destination."

"Let me guess, it's 'your destination is on your right?'"

"Well, if it's on your left then it'll tell you that your destination is on the left."

"Whatever," he sighed. He walked forward and examined it, finding a doorway with a button next to it. Pressing it caused the doorway to open up and let him in before it closed behind him.

Andonuts' voice echoed from outside, "let's get together in another ten years or so!" Anthony's eye twitched before he began flipping switches.

"So, where exactly are you guys?"

"_We don't know our exact location, but we'd say near the Threed graveyard."_

"Alright, I'll land there and then begin looking around for you two."

"_I'd be careful, lots of spooky zombies and ghosts were huddling around the graveyard when we investigated!"_

"You're joking."

"_She's not," _Sapphire deadpanned.

"Sure. Whatever. I'll go with it, undead here I come." He looked down and found a button labeled 'launch,' and quickly pressed it. A moment later and the ship began lifting into the air, and Anthony quickly made sure he was strapped into his seat. Suddenly, it dropped back down and Anthony hissed as he hit his head on the roof.

"What happened?" Andonuts' voice echoed again, "try pressing the button again!" Anthony grumbled and did so, and the ship began lifting off again with a worrying groan.

"This thing is totally going to crash," he muttered. The Skyrunner lifted up through the roof of Andonuts' lab, before flying high into the clouds, to the west. Anthony settles back into his seat, trying to get as comfortable in the confined quarters as he could.

Hours quickly passed, and Anthony could see through the window various places in Eagleland when he had finally reached it. The city of Fourside, the massive Dusty Dunes Desert, and finally Threed. However, even though it was still day, Threed looked dark and dreary. And it wasn't just from the infected, dark blue landscape, but there was a stark contrast between when he had been flying above the clouds, and when he flew below them.

And it wasn't just that the clouds were thick and blocking the light, but in the distance, he could see a break in the clouds that light was flowing to, to the north of Threed. It almost looked like a vacuum, every scrap of light that managed to break through the cloud cover was siphoned and sucked towards that area.

"_I guess you'll have to check over that way then."_

"Yes, such an anomaly could be attributed to a monster base or some such event."

"_Yeah, whatever you say." _The Skyrunner began lowering itself even further until it was skimming just barely above the gravestones of the cemetery. The machine began circling until it was hovering over a pathway near the center of the graveyard.

"…_Sapphire, do you hear that?"_

"_Yeah…"_

Anthony began preparing for descent and landing before the console sparked. "Oh, crap." The machine rose up several meters, and Anthony looked out to the sky. "God, if you're listening, If you make sure I survive, I'll promise I'll begin praying."

"Your destination is directly below you! Thank you for flying with the Skyrunner!"

"_Willow, move!" _The Skyrunner dropped like a rock, smashing straight the ground and deep underground. Anthony shrieked and closed his eyes before the rumbling stopped. He opened his eyes to find himself in an underground cavern and breathed a sigh of relief before the Skyrunner suddenly exploded.

"Gah!" He was tossed clear from the burning wreckage and rolled across the cave floor, before coughing out a puff of smoke. "Fun." He slowly got up and cracked his back, before looking around the cave. It looked eerily similar to the meeting place between him and the two psychics, except much brighter due to the hole in the ceiling.

He looked over when he heard coughing, and saw two figures near a large metal door. One of them wore a striped red and blue shirt, with blue jeans and sneakers, with a red baseball cap atop his head. The hat covered extremely brown hair, nearly completely black, with similarly colored eyes. They were such a deep brown that it looked like they were all pupil, no iris. He had a yellow backpack on, with a baseball bat in his hand, which he was brandishing in defense.

To his right was— Anthony blushed and looked away, considering the girl's pink dress had ridden up when she fell back from the crash revealing her… undergarments. "Willow, you okay?"

"A-Okay!" She jumped up, and Anthony could finally look back. Aside from the pink dress, she had a white sash around her waist which held a frying pan, for some reason, and atop golden blonde hair was a bright red bow with a small bag on her back as well. She had crystal clear, beautiful blue eyes, and was clasping her hands together as she smiled at him. "You finally got here, Ant!"

Sapphire lowered his bat at that, nodding. "I figured it was you, but just wanted to make sure." He walked over and held a hand out, a mischievous grin on his face. "Howdy, I'm Sapphire, as you already know."

"I'm Anthony, which you also already know." He shook his hand before he brushed the back of his head. "Wow, that really scared me…I suppose that the Skyrunner is now out of commission." They both looked back to see the smoldering wreck. "Well… here I am." He smiled a little embarrassed. He might have been talking with them for near two days now and met with them in his dreams, but this was physical now, they were face to face. "I'm not very strong, near-sighted— _very _near-sighted, kind of shy, and tend to be a bit reckless when it comes to explosives."

"Sounds good to me," Sapphire grinned, with Willow nodding along.

"I hope we can be good friends, then." He smiled and bowed to them, before Willow giggled and jumped forward, hugging him.

"Of course! We'll be the best of friends!"

"Yep! Welcome to the group!"

* * *

Sapphire observed the boy, folding his hands behind his head. He had blond hair, just a bit paler than Willow's and not as golden, with glasses covering his eyes. He had some kind of blue suit jacket and pants or something, Sapphire didn't know, he wasn't very good with clothes. Although the bow tie he wore did look pretty funny. He spotted the boy's Stun Gun in his hand, as well as his messenger bag.

"So…" he started, looking back at the door they were locked behind. "Got some way of opening that?"

"Of course!" The boy rooted around in his bag as he approached the door, before pulling out the Bad Key Machine.

"I remember that!" Willow skipped behind him and looked at it. "It was so cool!"

"Indeed," Anthony nodded. He held it up to the door's keyhole before the machine scanned it and inserted itself. The door gave a click before Anthony grasped the doorknob and pulled it open. "Ladies first."

"Why thank you, kind gentleman!" Willow giggled and walked out, followed by himself, and Anthony last. Willow laughed, "Anthony went last, so are you a lady too, Sapph?"

"Hell no, I'm a queen!" He strut forward and Willow laughed, while Anthony shook his head. "Now, let's get outta here!" They began following a stone path that seemed an unnatural blue.

"Even the stones are a sickly, dark purple," Anthony muttered.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's nothing that can't be corrupted by Giygas," he sighed back.

"If everything will be corrupted, then we'll just purify everything!" Willow cheered.

Both boys chuckled at her words and began ascending a staircase carved out of the stone. At the top was a ladder, which Sapphire climbed first since he was the sturdiest and could take any creatures that were waiting above better than Willow or Anthony could. When he got to the top he pushed aside what felt like a stone slab, to reveal that they were below a grave.

He climbed out and saw the hole in the ground that the Skyrunner had created before he turned to see Willow helping Anthony out of the hole since he had climbed up after her. For some reason, the boy was blushing and looking away. "Alright, so we know we need to go north. We could try that path we found before we were captured, remember it, Willow?"

"Yeah, but I'm willing to bet all those zombies are still there, and ready to bite us!"

"So we'll need a way to lower the zombie population, without getting killed ourselves," Anthony muttered.

"Maybe we should talk about this back in town, I don't want to get ambushed again."

"Rightio!"

"Of course."

They began making their way back into town, to see that even fewer people were out than before, and that was saying something. "So, What do we do?"

"Perhaps ask around the town? We might be able to find someone, or multiple people, planning on how to defeat the zombies."

"Yeah! We can shine our own light on this place and fill it with hope!"

"I don't think we're going to amass an army to take down the zombies," he dryly responded. "But that is a good idea. Come on, let's look around." And so began the search. Whenever they attempted to talk with someone they either ran screaming because they thought the three kids were zombies in disguise or didn't know anything.

"This sucks," he sighed. "Nobody around here is trying to fight against the zombinos!"

"Pardon?"

"Yeah," Willow sighed. "The town's lost all hope!"

"Then it's a good thing that's my special move! Now, let's put some PSI Hope in these peoples hearts!"

"You kids lookin' ta fight the zombies?"

"Yes indeed!" Sapphire spun on his heel to see a man wandering out of an alleyway. "And who are you?"

"Arms dealer. After all, people need to defend themselves, so I give them what they need."

"Cool! That sounds like stuff you could use, Ant!" Sapphire fished some money out and handed it over. "Here, buy something if you think it could be useful."

"My thanks. Pardon me, but what items do you have in stock?"

"Take a look!" As Anthony began looking through the guy's stuff, Sapphire folded his arms.

"So, how about we draw all of the zombies into one place, then I can blow 'em all up at once with Hope?"

"That could work, but there were a lot of zombies… Could you take out every single one with a single Hope?"

"If I can't, then I'm sure a PSI Fire from you will take out the rest!" She nodded at his words before Anthony wandered back over. "So, what'd ya get?"

"Several explosives, a couple of extra bottle rockets, and some rust promoter."

"...Maybe I shouldn't have given you so much money."

"I do not have psychic powers, I have to be useful somehow."

"So what'll you kids do now?"

"I presume we shall find somewhere to draw in the zombies, someplace easily destructible that no one shall care about, so we can destroy them all at once."

"Hm… I've heard that some people want to trap the zombies in the circus tent, but they would have no way of getting out safely."

"Maybe we should talk with them," Willow suggested.

"I've also heard that there's another, weirder circus tent to the south of town. I recommend checking that out since it could be the work of the zombies."

"Alright, thanks!" They began walking away and Sapphire folded his arms behind his head. "So, check out the weird tent first, or the people fighting against the zombies?"

"The tent! I bet there's a bunch of monsters there!"

"Pardon my language, but that's bloody idiotic. We should check with the people planning a defense first."

"Guys, guys, let's not have an argument within literally the first hour of meeting each other face to face. We'll check out the weird tent first, because if it really was created by the zombies, or something similar, then we should destroy it quickly."

Willow nodded happily, while Anthony hummed his acceptance at his logic. As they walked down the road, Sapphire had to stop himself from bumping into a kid running down the street. Anthony immediately crossed his arms, "Watch it, kid, you almost bumped into us."

"Sorry!" Sapphire raised an eyebrow as he looked down and almost burst out laughing. The kid was wearing a pumpkin on his head and looking up at them through it.

"What the heck are you wearing?"

"A pumpkin!" Several more kids began running up, all of them also wearing pumpkins.

"Aw!" Willow giggled and leaned forward, "and why are you wearing pumpkins?"

"For protection from the zombies?" Anthony asked. "I don't believe that fruits could protect you that well."

"No, from you!"

Danger.

Sapphire jumped back as the kids began spitting high-speed seeds at them, grabbing Willow and Anthony to pull them back as well. "Whoa!"

"Get them!"

"Use your magic on them! Don't you have some weird magic?!" Anthony cried.

"No, we can't!" Sapphire dodging another barrage of seeds, before winding up and _smashing _the pumpkin off of one of the kids' heads, knocking them out in the process. "We could do some serious damage!"

Another child tried jumping on Anthony, but the blond boy simply fired his taser at them, electrocuting them and knocking them out. Willow stopped another child from attacking him from behind by smacking them away with her frying pan. "Shield α times three!" Sapphire jumped forward and threw shields over himself and the other two Chosen, before placing his back against theirs to smack away another child.

"Ack!" One of the children tried spitting seeds at Anthony, but they simply bounced off his Shield, letting him get in a blast from his taser. "Dear lord… You really do have powers…"

"We've been telepathically talking for two days!"

"Take this, you meanies!" One of the children suddenly pulled out-

Danger.

"A bomb!" In the child's hands was a stick of dynamite, which they quickly lit and threw.

"PSI Freeze β!" Willow aimed the blast of ice at the ground, which quickly created an icy wall. The bomb detonated against it, sending shards of ice flying away. "Alright, that was awesome!"

"Nice work, Willow!" Sapphire called as he bat a child away.

"Indeed!" Anthony chimed in. One last blast from his Stun Gun and the final kid went down. "Now, such instantaneous freezing! That's some powerful Glaciokinesis! The wall it created is about seven feet tall while being four feet wide, so the amount of energy that you expended…" He continued talking, while Willow blinked.

"Uh, what?"

"Well, that was a thing." Sapphire ignored the science babble and knelt down to check the pulse of the children, and nodded when he felt pulses in all of them. "They're still alive. Good, I don't think I could handle killing a person, or a kid."

"Yeah, now, onward to the spooky tent!" Further south they exited the town, to come upon what almost looked to be an inverted version of the circus grounds to the north. Where there had been reds were dull browns. Bright blues were now deep purple. And happy clowns were now— oh god clowns.

The various dark blue and purple clowns turned as they spotted them, and frowned. Sapphire immediately stepped back and brought out his bat. "Stay back, demons!"

"Sapphire, they are clowns. They pose no threat." He was immediately proven wrong when a clown jumped forward and bit down on his shoulder.

"ZOMBIE CLOWNS!" Sapphire screeched and powered up a Flash α. The explosive light slammed into the zombie and detonated, shredding their bodies while causing others to begin crying uncontrollably. Anthony fell back and clutched his shoulder, tears of pain forming as he let off a scream of pain. "Willow, turn them to ash!" He slid over to Anthony, lighting up his hands with a Lifeup α.

"Fire α!" The wave of flames lit up the darkness and quickly roasted the zombies, Except for the few that dodged. One of them staggered as Anthony fired his taser, biting his lip to ignore the pain. Several zombies suddenly jumped forward causing Willow to fall back as she bashed one aside.

"Hyah!" Sapphire moved forward to cover her and _smashed_ one zombie to pieces, before holding his bat in a bunting position to protect himself from another before smacking it away. A stick of dynamite flew over him and landed in a cluster of zombies, before detonating and blowing them all apart. "Whoa!"

"Well, I did say that I had purchased explosives from that Arms Dealer," Anthony explained as he pulled out another stick. Although since there were only a few zombies left, Sapphire just bashed aside the one, while Anthony zapped another and Willow froze the last.

"That's done with…" Sapphire put his bat away his bat and sighed. "Now what?"

"Let's investigate this tent," Anthony suggested. They walked up to the front of it, but couldn't find an entrance. "How are we supposed to get in?"

Sapphire narrowed his eyes as he felt a thump in the back of his mind.

Danger.

"Get ready, something's about to happen." His clairvoyance, it was telling him that an enemy was there. But where? There was nothing around him… He edged towards the tent, but when he reached out to it, there was a flash of light, and Sapphire was sent sprawling backward.

"Sapph!"

"Sapphire!"

Danger.

Sapphire rolled to the side, just as yellow liquid splashed onto the ground where he had been laying. Willow helped him to his feet, just as he saw what had attacked him. "Oh, you're kidding me." Anthony facepalmed next to him, a disbelieving expression on his face.

The tent roared as it suddenly grew a face with incredibly sharp and massive teeth, and piercing eyes. "Gaaooorrg!"

"This is insane…" The tent bulged, building up more of the yellow fluid. All three Chosen grabbed their weapons and stood fast, as the Boogey Tent attacked!

* * *

**The first three Chosen have met now, and we're back in Threed. Oh yeah, and now they're fighting a sentient tent. Earthbound is freaking weird. **

**Felt like this was a good place to stop. I've pretty much already finished writing the fight, now I'm just writing the rest of chapter eleven. I think I wrote a pretty unique take on the fight. Guess I'll see what y'all think when I post the next chapter.**

**Alrighty then, leave a review if you'd like and enjoyed the chapter. Now I'm going to sleep because it's one in the morning and I don't want to forget to post it in the morning. See y'all next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11: Start of the Liberation

Chapter Eleven: Start of the Liberation

The three Chosen dodged as more of the disgusting yellow liquid was barfed out by the living tent. While Sapphire and Willow dodged all of the liquid, Anthony couldn't dodge all of it and had his leg drenched in it. Luckily, it didn't seem to be any kind of acid, but it quickly hardened and made Anthony stuck in place.

"Willow, break him out! Flash α!" He blasted out the burst of white light, causing the… tent… to roar as it was blinded. Willow raised her pan and slammed it down, cracking the now hardened liquid sticking Anthony to the ground. The tent roared, before barfing out several zombie dogs.

"That's nasty…" Willow groaned.

The dogs began running at them, so Sapphire batted one aside, while Anthony zapped another with his gun. "Nice shot!"

"Zombies, if they're in any way similar to movie zombies, are only alive due to their brain and nervous system! One good shock would knock any of them out!"

"…Okay?"

"I'm saying that any zombies that the tent produces should be dealt with by Willow's fire or my gun!" The tent began spitting out more zombies, both dogs, and regular ones, so Anthony raised his taser to shoot another, sending it crumbling to the ground.

"Don't worry about that! PSI Thunder α!" A bolt of electricity shot out of Willow, jumping back and forth between several enemies.

"Astonishing! You also have fulgurkinesis!"

"Bless you!"

"Oh my— the ability to control electricity!"

"Ohh! Why didn't you say so?" Anthony facepalmed, and Sapphire had to smack away a zombie that was going to attack him from behind.

"Forget it Ant, let Willow focus on the zombies, we'll take out the tent!"

"Whatever, I can use my explosives, what about you?"

Sapphire grinned and let energy begin flowing through his arms, causing his veins to glow blue, red, and yellow. "I PSI Hope α you're ready for this!" He blasted the energy forward and caused the tent to roar in pain and recoil.

"Photokinesis?!"

"Just… Just call it light manipulation…" The tent roared and spat out more gunk, which the two boys had to dodge. A wall of flame washed past, carrying the ash remains of the last zombies. When it slammed into the tent, it began screeching and shaking as it caught on fire.

"Why didn't we think of that? Willow, hit it again!"

"Rightio, captain!" She built up energy, before shooting it out. "PSI Fire α!" Another wall of fire swept forward, before engulfing the tent. The screeching rose in volume before a blast of light shot out. Sapphire and Anthony managed to roll away, but Willow was too close and stumbled back as the light exploded.

"Willow!"

"I'm… I'm fine!" She stood up and began stumbling around. "I'm… totally fine! A-ok! Huurp…" She held a hand to her mouth as she turned green. "I'll… get the evil… tent thing! PS—PSI Fire α!"

"Ah, crap." A ring of fire shot out of Willow, and while some of it did scorch the tent, a part of it flew at the two boys. Anthony, behind me!" He spread his arms, and grit his teeth, feeling Anthony huddle against his back. When the wall of flame slammed into him, He grunted in pain as it burnt his skin, but managed to stand his ground before the flames passed. "That hurt less than I expected…"

"Defense Spray!" Anthony held out a can, which he rattled.

"Oh, sweet." Now that the fire had stopped, Sapphire sprinted forward and placed his hands on either side of Willow's head. "PSI Healing α!" Instead of the golden light of Lifeup, a greener light shone from his hands, before flowing through Willow's head.

She went cross-eyed for a moment, before shaking her head and noticing his burns. "O-oh my god! Sapphire, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine, it's fine, don't worry." The tent roared and began spitting out more of the yellow liquid, which splashed the ground around them. Sapphire pushed Willow out of the way but got almost completely covered, with only his arm and head sticking out. He tried to wipe off the goo, but it quickly hardened, leaving him stuck to the floor.

Willow tried breaking him out, but he was covered in much more goo than Anthony had been, and the solid-liquid didn't even crack. "Don't worry about me, just kill the tent and break me out later! I can still fight like this, PSI Hope α!" His attack slammed into the tent and exploded, causing it to screech again. More zombies were spawned from its mouth, and he switched the energy in his arm to a different power. "PSI Hypnosis α!"

The lead zombie dog stumbled and fell, leading to all of the zombies behind it to trip and fall into a big pile. "PSI Fire α!" The fire washed over the zombies and then the tent, disintegrating them before Anthony tossed another stick of dynamite and it detonated against the front of the tent. The tent suddenly glowed pale green, and the wave of light washed over Willow and Anthony.

Willow stumbled, before shaking her head and throwing her hands forward. "PSI Fire α!" When nothing came out, She looked down at her hands in shock. "What?!" The tent threw up more of the fluid and quickly covered them, sticking them to the floor.

"Oh crap!" With all of them stuck to the ground, the tent began barfing out more zombies. "I can't reach my bombs!"

"I can't use PSI!"

Sapphire tried bashing at the goo sticking him down, but the goo wouldn't break. He saw the zombies approaching Willow and Anthony, and powered up a Hope, before realizing that the tent would just create more zombies. He needed a way to kill them and the tent at once, but none of his attacks were powerful enough. He grit his teeth, before pushing as much power as he could into his Hope. His only chance was powering up the attack as much as possible. His friends were counting on him… he was their only hope… just like they were the hopes of the world!

There was the sound of a lock clanking open, and new power rushed through his head. His eyes flashed, their nearly black, dark brown color flashing between blue, red, and yellow. "PSI Hope β!" The colors that flashed out of his palm were much brighter and powerful, and when they swept through the group of zombies the explosion that went off was much more intense than an explosion from a Hope α, and every zombie was disintegrated, while the tent was heavily damaged and Willow and Anthony's goo prison was shattered.

However, the tent wasn't done and began building up more goo. Before it could shoot it out, a stick of dynamite flew through the air and landed inside the tent's mouth. The tent gagged, before the explosive went off, killing the tent from the inside. The tent roared before it began collapsing in on itself.

Sapphire sighed and let his head fall back. Willow and Anthony approached, before Willow powered up a Fire, melting the goo sticking him down. He slowly got up and groaned as he wiped himself down. "That's nasty…"

"Well, looks like we were right," Anthony said. "That tent was certainly creating zombies."

"Come on, we should check inside it." Sapphire approached the collapsed tent as he rubbed his head, feeling PSI exhaustion setting in. It wasn't that bad though, which was surprising considering how many times he'd thrown his strongest attack out in that fight. He was definitely getting stronger, then. "I guess that the tent was like a mobile command center or something?"

"Perhaps." The tent was completely collapsed, so they began moving the fabric around to see if there was anything underneath. "There does not seem to be much…" Anthony mumbled as he looked around.

"Found something!" Willow suddenly jumped up, holding up a jar.

"And I stand corrected," He muttered.

"Nicely done, Wils!" Sapphire jumped over and looked at it. "But, uh, what is it?"

"I dunno." Willow grabbed the cap and tried unscrewing it, struggling for a moment, before the cap popped off. The second it did, a rancid odor escaped and they could see the disgusting yellow liquid that the tent had spat at them inside.

"Oh, gross!"

"Quite repulsive, isn't it."

Willow giggled and stepped closer to the boys, waving the jar around. "What, too smelly?" Sapphire and Anthony both backed away, gagging. "Oh!" She dipped a finger in and flicked some of the liquid at Sapphire, who grabbed and shoved Anthony in front of him. Anthony shrieked as the liquid splashed on him, while Willow began laughing hysterically.

"This is disgusting, get it off!" Anthony wiped away the odd the liquid and wiped his hand on Sapphire.

"Hey, watch the clothes!" Sapphire put Anthony into a headlock while laughing. "Wils, get some more of that stuff on him!"

Willow snickered and dipped her fingers into the jar again, but before she could splash Anthony with it, a ringing came from Sapphire's clothes. Sapphire let go of Anthony to see what was making the noise and found the Receiver Phone that Apple Kid's mouse had given him. He opened it and placed it to his ear, "Hello?"

"Ah, hello! It's Apple Kid, here. I heard there was some kind of zombie problem going on in Threed?"

"Yeah, how'd you hear about that? I thought people couldn't get out of Threed?"

"Hearing about it, I came up with a new invention that could help you out!"

"Well that doesn't answer my question but sure, why not." Sapphire rolled his eyes and shrugged at Anthony and Willow. "What'd you make?"

"You know how Fly Paper entices flies in, before trapping them? I've made something similar, which I've name Zombie Paper!"

Sapphire wasn't sure how well sarcasm could be heard over a phone without the deadpan expressions that came with it, but by god, he'd try. "...Brilliant name."

"Thanks!"

Okay, looks like not very well. "So, are you going to get someone to deliver it to us or something?"

"Yeah, I'll tell the delivery guy to look for someone named Sapphire! Keep an ear out! And if I come up with anything else I'll let you know!"

"Right. Thanks again, Apple Kid."

"No problem!" Apple Kid quickly hung up, and Sapphire placed the phone back in his pocket. He turned around and facepalmed when he saw Willow struggling to stick a finger covered in the yellow liquid in Anthony's mouth, who was desperately fending her off.

* * *

"Eye spy with my little eye, something… purple!"

"Willow, it's either going to be the grass, the rocks, the sky, the buildings, or the tombstones. There isn't much variety here."

"Come on Anty!"

"Don't call me that."

"He's got a point," Sapphire snickered. "There's not much variety in color here. Or stuff." The three Chosen were wandering around the edge of the graveyard. While waiting for Apple Kid's delivery guy, they decided to wander around to make sure no zombies got into Threed proper.

Speaking of, a rotting green zombie was approaching them, and Anthony quickly blasted it with his taser. It spasmed, before falling forward.

"Eye spy with my little eye, something… green!"

"The zombie," Anthony and Sapphire said simultaneously.

"Dang it!"

"Hey, 'scuse me, kids?"

They turned around to see some guy in a black and white suit with a top hat and mustache walked up. He also had a badge on that said Mach Pizza and held a briefcase. "Yes, sir?"

"Well, this weird guy came up to me and wanted me to deliver whatever's in this briefcase to someone named Sapphire who was wandering around Threed. I'm just going to pretend you're Sapphire and give it to you, 'kay?"

"Uh—"

"No, no. I've decided you're Sapphire and that's that."

"But _I_ am Sapphire."

"You got it!"

"Now you're getting it!"

"This man certainly isn't the brightest, is he?" Anthony whispered to a staring Sapphire and giggling Willow.

Willow grinned at the man before holding out her hand. The man grinned back and handed over the briefcase, which Willow gleefully took. "That's right, Sapphire! Wink, wink."

"Did he just wink out loud?"

"But… I'm Sapphire…"

"Wink, wink!" Willow nodded.

"Welp, I've done my job! See ya!" As he wandered away, the man mumbled, "Sapphire's a girl's name, right?"

Sapphire fell to his knees. "My identity… who am I? Am I truly Sapphire? Or am I nobody? A simple cog in the machine, who matters naught to the workings of the universe?"

"Annnd he's gone philosophical."

Willow just giggled and patted his head. "Don't worry! You'll always be Sapphire to me!"

"Really?"

"Yep!" She handed over the briefcase, which he opened to look inside. The first thing he noticed was a small, broken machine, with a note on it. 'Sapphire, I forgot to tell you that I was developing this machine alongside the Zombie Paper, But I couldn't get anywhere with it. If you've got some smart friends you can give it to them for them to try."

Sapphire handed the machine over to Anthony, who began looking it over, before putting it in his bag. They all then looked at the last item in the case. "So that's the Zombie Paper?" It actually looked pretty plain, just some tan colored paper… that smelled horrible. All three Chosen gagged, and Sapphire closed the briefcase. "Alright… where do we set it up?"

"How about there?" Willow pointed at the circus tent that could just barely see over some low buildings.

"We'll have to acquire permission from the people inside."

"Buuut it would be easy to burn or blow up, with all the zombies inside," Sapphire hummed. "Come on, let's go ask them."

They made their way to the tent, battling a few pumpkin kids and puppets on the way. They eventually reached and entered the tent, to see two blonde women, and two men, one with black hair and one with brown. One of the women was talking, "so, what can we do to defeat the zombies?"

"I don't know," the black haired man sighed, "but we'll have to do something soon. People have been spotting zombies and other creatures coming closer and closer to the tent. They must know this is the resistance's base!"

"This is the resistance?" Anthony muttered. "Not much of a resistance."

"Why don't we let them attack the tent, but we escape and then set it on fire?"

"How would we get out without being eaten?"

"Ahem…" Sapphire stepped forward and gave a dramatic bow. "We have arrived to assist!"

"…Who are you?"

Sapphire fell forward and Anthony stepped over him. "Don't worry about that, just know that we are very experienced with battling the zombies."

"We're experts!" Willow jumped forward, knocking down Sapphire who was standing back up.

"I thought I was supposed to be the leader…"

"I don't know, I'm glad for more help, but you all look pretty young. What are you all, twelve?"

"Hey, I turned thirteen pretty recently!" Willow said, triumphantly.

"All right, back on track," Sapphire jumped back up, in front of his friends. "We have a way to trap the zombies in the tent, while also staying at a safe distance!"

"Really?" The blonde woman blinked in surprise, before smiling. "Lay it on us, kid!"

"Did you ever hear of… Fly Paper? Then behold Zombie Paper!" He opened the briefcase, and a wad of ZombiePaper fell out. Everyone stared at it blankly. "Ta-da!"

"Uh…"

Anthony facepalmed, while Willow snickered. "It's the zombie version of Fly Paper."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so?"

"I— Alright, moving on."

Anthony crossed his arms, "we should spread the paper out evenly, over the whole tent. Additionally, we should make sure people are off of the streets and in their homes when the zombies come through."

"Yeah, we don't want anyone to get hurt!"

"Let us adults handle that," one of the blonde women nodded. "You kids take care of lining the floor."

The man with brown hair whooped, "Let the liberation of Threed begin!"

"Right! Willow, you start on that side! Anthony, you take that side! Make your way over to the entrance, you don't want to get stuck in an island of non-plastered floor!"

"Of course."

"Got it, Captain!"

They divided the paper equally and began setting it up. The smell quickly became overwhelming, and they were all gagging as they placed it all down. When the tent floor was finally covered, they all breathed a sigh of relief, before gagging again at the smell. "Come on, let's go."

Anthony adjusted his glasses, looking over their work. "Alright, perhaps we should stay somewhere, such as a hotel? It will take a while for the smell to waft out, and attract the zombies."

"Great idea! Come on, let's get to the hotel!"

"Roger dodger!"

* * *

The hotel room housing Sapphire, Willow, and Anthony was chaotic. Oh, nothing was happening at the moment, but the night before was certainly wild. Willow had sneakily tried to steal one of Sapphire's pillows, but since Sapphire had noticed, one thing led to another and the greatest pillow fight of all time had begun.

Anthony hid in his bed in fear, (annoyance) while Sapphire and Willow duked it out. Soon enough PSI Freezes and Flashes we're flying, and the only undamaged part of the room was Anthony's bed, where he hid underneath the covers to work on his machines. By dawn Sapphire was laying half on the ground, half on the bed, with the blanket covering only one leg, while Willow lay half on his lower half, half on the bed with a wide open smile, drool leaking out of her mouth.

A few hours after dawn the blond glanced at the sleeping forms of Sapphire and Willow. "Such children," Anthony muttered as he screwed a bolt in place. Sapphire began stirring and yawned, stretching.

"Shut the heck your mouth."

"You don't even know if I said anything."

"I assumed you did." Sapphire snickered and tried to get up, but with Willow laying on his lap he had to do an awkward sit up, before scooching over to lay on the bed. "Willow, time to get up!"

Willow groaned, still half asleep, and grabbed the blanket to cocoon herself with, nuzzling into Sapphire's side. "No… sleepy time…"

"You sure you aren't romantically invested in each other?"

Sapphire formed a gun with his fingers, a Hope powering up. "I won't hesitate, loser!"

Anthony just rolled his eyes and put away his tools. "Uh-Huh, sure. Come, we should eat breakfast before checking on the tent." Sapphire got up, causing Willow to groan as her living pillow moved. The boy rolled his eyes and picked her up, causing her to let out happy noises.

Anthony began getting his bag ready, as well as removing his sleeping clothes for his usual suit, and sighed as he heard shrieking from the bathroom. He leaned back to look through the open door and watched as Sapphire laughed hysterically as he dumped Willow in a bathtub full of cold water.

A moment later the water began boiling as Willow used her Pyrokinesis to heat the water, which splashed on Sapphire. He yelped as his pajamas got wet before he slipped on the water that splashed onto the floor and fell into the tub with Willow.

Anthony snorted and exited the room, grabbing a newspaper from the bellhop outside their room and began reading it as he waited in the lobby for the two PSI sensitive Chosen. After a few minutes they walked down the stairs in their usual clothes, but with their hair soaking wet. Anthony facepalmed, while Sapphire and Willow just laughed. "Are you finally ready to go?"

"You betcha!" Sapphire led the way out of the hotel, and up towards the circus tent. As they walked through an alleyway they heard the clacking of wood and took cover, watching as a trio of roving puppets wandered by. When they had passed their hiding place, Sapphire suddenly jumped out and whacked one across the back of the head, while Willow froze another and he blasted the last.

"So there are still puppets roaming around?" Sapphire asked rhetorically.

"It would seem so," he nodded back. "But if you'll recall, the Zombie Paper was just for the zombies, not anything else."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So we can fight more spooky ghosts, then!" Willow giggled.

"I'm not sure I want to fight something I can't physically hit," Sapphire snorted.

"I'm not sure the paranormal even exists. I'll admit I believe in extrasensory perception and aliens now, but ghosts are still a stretch."

"Come on, ghosts totally exist!" Sapphire laughed. They eventually reached the tent and had to hold their noses as the smell wafting out nearly overwhelmed them. "Ugh, how can anything like that smell?!"

"It certainly is repulsive…"

"Gross!"

They could see the members of the resistance standing outside of the tent as they walked up, and saw that they were all ecstatic. "Woo hoo! We did it! We taught those stupid zombies a lesson!" The black-haired man turned and saw them. He quickly waved them over and pointed inside the tent. "Take a look for yourselves, your plan worked!"

Sapphire peeked inside the tent, and sure enough, the floor was covered in zombies. They were all wriggling and trying to get loose, but the Zombie Paper was too sticky. "Nice! The path north of the graveyard must be open!"

"Let's go check it out," Willow said, excited.

"Thanks for your help, kids!" One of the blonde women exclaimed. "Although, I do feel a bit bad for the zombies…"

They all looked at her incredulously, before walking away. They made their way north, taking the alleyways so they could defeat a few pumpkin kids to free them of Giygas' mind control, and a few puppets to make the streets safer. They were able to eventually enter the graveyard, which looked just as creepy as the first time they had entered it, although there were open holes in front of all the graves.

"Wow, even the zombies underground smelled the stuff."

"I would say that's not possible, but sure. Why not." Sapphire and Willow snickered at the blond's words.

As they walked through the graveyard, Sapphire felt a sudden chill and looked around. "Did either of you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"What do you mean?"

The wind began blowing by quietly, rustling their clothes and hair, and a white trash bag floated by in the wind. "I'm not sure, I just felt a sudden chill…"

"A ghost?!"

"Ghosts don't exist—" A ghost suddenly grabbed onto Sapphire, lifting him up and backward. "Really?!"

"Get it off me!" Sapphire tried twisting around in its grip, powering up a Flash α and blasting it in the face. The ghost howled in rage and dropped him, letting him scramble back to see what the heck just attacked him. It certainly was a ghost, having the whole white sheet aesthetic, which admittedly meant that the white trash bag they saw float by earlier might have been the ghost.

It suddenly flew down and reached out with its hand. Sapphire grabbed his bat and wound up, but when he tried to bash the ghost aside it flew right through him. He suddenly jerked as he lost control of his body, and fell forward into a slump on the ground. "Sapph!"

Willow knelt down next to him, shaking his shoulder. "Sapphire, are you okay?"

He tried to speak, but his entire body wasn't moving. Suddenly he felt a jolt. He wasn't breathing either. The automatic functions of his body were working like his heartbeat and his brain and all that, but he couldn't breathe. He tried to force himself to move, but it was like his body was completely locked down. It seemed like Willow saw the panic in his eyes because she jumped up and powered up a PSI attack.

"PSI Freeze β!" The incredibly cold attack shot out and washed over the ghost that Anthony was keeping at bay, causing it to screech and waver midair, before dispersing.

Sapphire waited for the lockdown on his body to lift and began panicking when nothing happened before all of a sudden he was in control again. He breathed a sigh of relief, before slowly standing up and stretching. He immediacy turned to Anthony and grinned. "Told you so!"

"Silence," he said back. Sapphire snickered before Willow poked him on the cheek and pouted.

"Hey, don't scare me like that!" He just stuck his tongue out at her, causing her to slap his shoulder, so he slapped her shoulder back, and they descended into a slap war. Anthony groaned and threw his hands up.

"Do you not recall that we are in a cemetery with spirits?"

They looked at him, before slapping each other one last time. "Okay, onward!"

"Rightio!" Anthony just sighed and followed behind them. A trash can nearby suddenly rattled, and two more ghosts flew out. "PSI Fire α!" The wave of flame rolled forward, but the ghosts flew through it easily.

"The spirits seem to be much more vulnerable to your glaciokinesis, and more resistant to your pyrokinesis!"

"Stick to Freeze, Willow!" Sapphire wound up and bashed away a ghost, and as it was reorienting itself midair Anthony zapped it, causing it to disperse.

"PSI Freeze α!" The second ghost was covered in ice, and Sapphire bashed it apart, sending ice shards flying. The ghosts were gone, but the trash can was still rattling. The top suddenly burst off, and a putrid smell began spreading.

All three Chosen held their noses and watched as two green, grimy hands gripped the edge of the trash can and pulled up a similarly green and disgusting body. It had two large eyes on antennae and a long nose, with flies buzzing around its body. It let out a groan, and a visible cloud of spores began floating through the air towards them.

"Spread apart, don't breathe any of that stuff in!" The group split up at Sapphire's order, making sure to stay far away from the spores.

"The creature seems to be made of trash and other disgusting objects!"

"So what?"

"So, it's flammable!"

"Oh! Willow!"

"On it! PSI Fire α!" The fire shot forward and began eating away at the creature, which let out several inhuman screeches of pain. Several of the bugs that were flying around the creature and weren't touched by the fire flew over, biting at their skin.

"How are such pests even doing any damage to us?!"

"What, never been stung by a bee? Bugs suck!" Sapphire tried swinging at the flies, but they easily buzzed around his bat. The ones around Willow had a harder time avoiding her frying pan considering its larger width, and had the easiest time with Anthony, considering he couldn't zap any of them.

"Use the insecticide spray!" Anthony scrambled around in his bag as the bugs kept biting at him, before he managed to grab the bottle and sprayed it around, sending all of the flies biting at him to fall to the ground. He then sprayed in the direction of Willow and Sapphire, sending the bugs around them crashing to the ground.

Sapphire groaned and rubbed his skin, feeling prickles where the bugs bit him. "Come on, let's keep moving." They made their way further north, spotting where the Skyrunner had crashed through the ground. Eventually, they made their way to the path that the two zombies had blocked when they had first entered the graveyard several days beforehand. With no zombies there this time, they were able to easily make their way through, with no resistance.

At the end of the path was what looked like a stone square with a ladder downwards. "What do you think is down there?"

"An alien base!" Willow squealed, excited.

"I don't think that's very likely," Anthony deadpanned.

"Probably a bunch of monsters," Sapphire grinned. "They'll probably have razor sharp claws and teeth, and they'll eat us whole!"

"Spooky… let's go!" Willow grinned back.

Anthony just rolled his eyes and looked down the hole. "It's a bit deep isn't it?" He heard movement behind him and turned to see Sapphire and Willow preparing to push him over. "Don't…"

"Too late!" They shoved him over the side and he let out a yelp as he fell, before he managed to scramble and grab onto the ladder. He grumbled as he began climbing down, eventually reaching the bottom and shaking his head.

When they all reached the bottom they saw that the rocky floor was also a dark blue, just as the room they had been trapped in, and the poisoned grass around Threed. There was also a staircase carved into the stone, leading further downwards. "Come on, let's go!" They began following the path downwards, the darkness of the tunnels growing stronger as they got further from the ladder.

"PSI Flash α!"

"PSI Fire α!" Luckily, PSI abilities were pretty bright. Sapphire concentrated the power of Flash in his palms, while Willow lit up her arms. They continued on until they entered a small room. Suddenly, out of the darkness, shot several zombie dogs.

"Oh crap!" Sapphire quickly grabbed his bat and swung in an upwards motion, bashing one dog back, while firing off his Flash with his free hand at another dog. The other dogs began avoiding him and ran instead at Willow, which turned out to be a mistake when she shot her Fire out and quickly incinerated them. The only one that managed to get through was bashed aside by Willow's frying pan.

Groans began echoing from the darkness, and several zombies began shambling forward. Anthony quickly stepped forward, lighting a stick of dynamite as Sapphire and Willow moved aside. "Get back! Hyah!" He tossed it perfectly, the stick sailing through the air and landed in the center of the group, detonating and erasing the zombies from existence.

"Nice throw!" Sapphire threw out a thumbs up of his own, lighting up the room with another Flash. He moved his arm around, making sure to light up all the corners of the room. There were several coffins off to the side, while directly ahead of them was another opening into a tunnel. "That looks like the only way forward."

"Let is go, then." Anthony nodded. They began walking through it, finding several more staircases downwards. There was a scrabbling sound before several dogs rushed from the darkness and ascended the stairs. "Willow, immolate them!"

"What?!"

"Oh for— burn! Burn them!"

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" She blasted her Fire down the staircase, instantly incinerating the zombie dogs. When the fire died down the tunnel was quiet for a moment, before more dogs rushed forward.

"How many are there?!" Sapphire pushed Willow aside and twirled his bat around his hand while Anthony raised his gun and closed an eye. "Save your PSI, we don't know how long it'll be until we can rest again!" He bashed aside the first dog that reached him, while Anthony shocked another.

One dog managed to scramble over the dog that Sapphire had bashed and leaped at Willow, only for her to smack it down with her frying pan, and to stick her tongue out at it. "Take that, meanie!"

"I am about to try something, stay back!" Sapphire jumped back at Anthony's words and watched as he twisted a knob on his Stun Gun. "Overcharged Blast! Three-hundred percent!" The Stun Gun visibly glowed with electricity, before a massive bolt of energy shot out and began jumping from dog to dog.

"Whoa!" Both Sapphire and Willow clasped their hands together and squeezed their faces cheek to cheek as their eyes sparkled and they spoke in unison. "That was so cool!"

Anthony grinned and made a finger gun. "Heh, that's my genius at work. I couldn't fix that odd machine last night, but I did come up with a way to overcharge my Stun Gun for this ultimate move!"

One of the dogs suddenly twitched and jumped up, biting deep into Sapphire's leg. "Gah!" Sapphire brought his bat up and _smashed _down on the dogs head, completely crushing it. "Some ultimate move!PSI Lifeup α!"

"I suppose it still needs some calibration," Anthony muttered, embarrassed. He pulled out a screwdriver and began unscrewing a screw until Sapphire began hitting him on the back of the head.

"Not right now, there could be more zombies!"

"Quit assaulting me!" Anthony began slapping his hands away, and they descended the stairs, continuing to slap each other while Willow hummed happily and followed along.

The next room they entered was completely empty except for several coffins near another opening in the rock. As they neared the opening Sapphire drifted towards the coffins. "What're ya doin'?" Willow asked, leaning forward.

"Maybe there's something we can use in these." Sapphire carefully lifted the top of a coffin, looking inside. It was empty, except for some dust.

Anthony lifted another and looked inside, before reaching in and grabbing an object. "I do not this could be very useful…" he pulled out a small silver bracelet, looking it over.

"Yeah, I don't know what a bracelet would be useful for," Sapphire shook his head. "Toss it over." Anthony threw it at him, and he caught it before increasing the intensity of his Flash to make more light. It was very plain, literally just a band of silver. "Hey, Willow—" he paused, and Anthony looked over to see what was wrong, before freezing as well.

"Yeah? What's up?" Willow tilted her head, gold hair falling out of a skull that she had placed on her head.

"What the hell are you wearing?! Why did you put that on your head?!"

"I thought it would be scary! Rawr!" She giggled and lifted her hands, trying to make claws as she jumped closer.

"That's a dead guy, that's super gross!" Both Sapphire and Anthony backed up as she jumped closer, causing her to jump closer again.

"Come on, come on! Dare you to touch it~!" She began chasing after them and giggling while Anthony and Sapphire tried to keep their distance.

"Gross, gross, gross, gross!" Willow laughed and took the skull off, tossing it at them. Sapphire let off a quick screech as the skull landed in his hands and he threw it at Anthony. The blond boy let off a scream as the skull impacted with his face before he chucked it all the way across the room. "Don't pick up skulls!"

"Aw, okay…" Willow slumped, and both boys sighed in relief.

"C'mon, let's keep 'er goin'!" Sapphire began walking again, entering the next passageway that finally started leading upwards.

"Finally, we are ascending from the darkness!"

"Way to make it sound dramatic." They eventually saw a ladder up ahead, as they finished climbing the last staircase. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

"…"

"Did either of you say something?"

"No."

"Nope!"

"…I assumed you were allies, due to having fly honey… but now I can see, you are our enemies!" There was a shuffling sound, along with a squishing noise and an awful smell. "I am the mortal enemy of your kind, and shall bring your heads on a platter to Master Belch!"

Out of the darkness shuffled… a pile of puke. "Uhh…" Sapphire held his nose and turned to his fellow Chosen. "Are you seeing that thing as well?"

"It seems to be a sentient pile of… vomit."

"Nasty…" Yeah, If Willow was calling something nasty when she was just wearing a skull then it was pretty bad.

"Okay…" he shrugged and turned back to the puke. "Flash." He fired the Flash that he had been using to light the room, which exploded in a blast of light.

"Gah!" The pile of barf began crying and backed up.

"Hey, if you just let us by, we won't have to kill you," Sapphire pointed out, shaking his head. The thing was a pile of barf, how could it possibly hurt them?

The barf suddenly opened its mouth and exhaled, and an even worse odor than it was already giving out wafted forward. Sapphire gagged and felt nauseous, his eyes watering at the smell. He heard squishing and swung his bat wildly, only for him to hit nothing as he couldn't see. Something impacted with his stomach, and he bent over and grunted.

He heard crud of pain to his left and right, and assumed that the pile of barf was doing… _something _to hurt his comrades. "Willow…" He gagged a moment, "cover yourself and Ant with a PSI shield!"

"Okay! PSI Shield α, times two!" Through his squinted and watery eyes, he saw two flashes and quickly powered up.

"Take this! PSI Hope β!" There was a thunderous crack as multicolored light flew forward, and exploded. He felt himself get thrown back as he accidentally hit the ground near himself, and the rocky tunnel rumbled. "Did that do it?"

"No!" He jolted as he heard the voice of the Mini Barf behind him before some kind of sticky liquid seeped through his clothes and quickly began immobilizing him.

"Oh— not again!" He began struggling to break out of whatever was keeping hold of him, even though he still couldn't see clearly.

"PSI Fire α!" There was an orange color that spring to life in his vision, before a wave of heat washed over him like water on the beach. Luckily the main fire itself didn't hit him, just the excess heat. "Sapphire!"

"Over here!" Willow and Anthony followed the sound of his voice and stumbled onto him. "Ow!"

"Sorry!"

"There will be no time for apologies, once you have all been—" Anthony suddenly turned, a Bottle Rocket in his hands. He fired it at the place he had heard the voice coming from, and there was a cry of pain as it exploded.

"How do we know if it is deceased?"

Sapphire struggled a moment before one of his arms broke free and he rubbed his eyes. "Once we fully get back our eyesight, we'll be able to tell. For now, though, keep your ears open." He tried pushing himself up, and some of the stuff holding him down cracked, but he was still trapped.

They stayed still, listening. "I… have an idea," Willow whispered, leaning in close to him. Her breath tickled his ear and he felt a small blush rise for a moment.

"What?" He whispered back.

"I have… another power that I haven't used yet. But it's because it's very weird and doesn't work right… it could just as easily harm us as harm the barfy guy, and I don't want to accidentally hurt you or Anty…"

There was a sudden cry from Anthony as something impacted with him. "Damn! Take this, Indiscriminate Shock, fifty-thousand Volts!" There was a blast of yellow light as Anthony's Stun Gun went off before he let off another cry as his attack presumably missed.

"Willow, try a Thunder! Your PSI shield is still on him!"

"Okay, PSI Thunder α!" The bolts of electricity blasted out of her body, and there was another grunt of pain from the barf before silence reigned again. Suddenly, Willow let off a cry of pain as something rammed into her, and Sapphire blindly swung his bat.

Sapphire bit his lip when he whiffed, connecting with nothing but air. "I think you'll have to use it, whatever it is!"

Through his still watery gaze, Willow looked slightly hesitant, before nodding. She suddenly clasped her hands together like she was praying, and began muttering to herself.

Sapphire was suddenly bowled over from behind as a weight slammed into his back, and he felt the disgusting, vomit-like body of the Mini Barf seep through his clothing. "Get off!" He struggled to move around in his trapped state, before pulsing as much power as he could through both arms.

"You can't kill what you can't see! My stink is so great that it can blind you, and you'll—"

"PSI Hope α!" He felt the explosion go off as he channeled it through the rock beneath him, and he was blasted clear off his stomach, several meters back and straight into his butt. "Gah!" He could barely see, but he thought he saw what looked like a blob of vomit splashed against a wall. It quickly slid down, before collecting itself and launching at him.

He grit his teeth and lit up a Flash, but before he could blast the attack out, a dazzling light shone through the cave tunnels. Sapphire looked around in shock, seeing that there was nowhere for the light to come from. It was seemingly shining straight through the very rocks and was focusing on the blurry blob of vomit.

The blob screeched as it began sizzling, before completely dissolving. The cave grew silent, with Anthony sitting up and looking around in confusion, Willow still sitting on her knees and clasping her hands together, and himself blinking in surprise.

"What the heck just happened?"

* * *

**All right, if the tent was a weird enemy, then the piles of barf are even weirder. I-I mean, how do they even attack you?! Yeah, the smell or whatever blinds you in-game, but they also bash you? Or something? That's why I just blinded the team for the whole fight so I wouldn't have to come up with something stupid like the pile of barf grew arms and legs and yeeted them around the room.**

**Oh yeah, and the tent. I just made it throw up honey, zombies, and disable PSI. Because how a tent bashes you is beyond me. I don't know if I made the battle too long or short, but I felt like it was an alright length, considering it's more of a mini-boss than an actual boss.**

**And how many readers that have played Earthbound were wondering where the Pray command was? Well, there you go. I hate that thing, sometimes your team is healed, sometimes you get PP back, and sometimes the entire enemy team is revived. If you want to see how sucky Pray can be, watch ChuggaaConroy's second Earthbound playthrough, at some point while infiltrating Belch's base, Pray revives, like, twelve piles of barf at once. **

**Oh, and I thought I might put in a little omake. Y'see, in the circus tent that you trap the zombies in, there's a certain corner that lets you get out of bounds. And by interacting with it, **_**lots **_**of weird stuff can happen. Speedrunners use it to access the debug menu or skip parts of the game. The aforementioned ChuggaConroy had an episode in his Earthbound playlist where he sits in the tent for three hours just messing around with the corner until funny stuff happens. The link to the episode is [youtube **** pMoxnUgmsEU]** **and make sure to put a dot com in the space between youtube and the mess of letters, ****so enjoy, if you want to watch a game completely bug out and break, lol.**

**Anyway, I made a short little thing that basically involves that corner. It's not Canon to the story or anything, I just thought It would be a fun thing to read, so enjoy, if you'd like.**

* * *

At one point, Sapphire was near a pillar holding the tent up near the entrance, placing down some zombie paper, when a tingle at the back of his mind drew his attention. "Hm?"

He turned towards the pillar and tilted his head, eyes widening when he spotted some kind of… darkness? It wasn't even that, it was just the absence of… stuff. Nothing existed, not black, or white, or matter, or antimatter.

"Hey, guys? Check this out!" Sapphire edged closer, cautious, yet curious. He stuck his head through, and—

The secrets of the universe are unfolding before me! I have become enlightened! This tent exists both within, and without the universe! God is this tent, and the tent is God! I have become one with God! The truth, it—

Ω

Halfway across the world, Prince Noct randomly became offended while meditating for some reason, not knowing that he had subconsciously realized someone else had reached the kind of enlightenment he could only dream of.

Ω

Willow blinked as Sapphire sat still, staring at Sapphire's still form. "Hey, Sapph? Why are you staring at the wall of the tent?"

"It knows."

"…You're freaking me out here, Sapph."

"It's endless."

"Can you hear me? Hellooo?"

"Infinity."

"Uh, I'm in love with you." No response. "I'm in love with Anthony?" No response.

"Hey, don't drag me into your weird magic shenanigans."

"Sapphire is a girl's name?"

Sapphire suddenly glowed, and numbers and letters appeared around him, flowing through the tent, then out, spreading across the world.

"I was not paid enough for this," Anthony muttered, "heck, I'm not being paid at all."

Ω

"…did something just happen?"

"Hm? Did you say something Moon?"

Sapphire looked down and saw he was wearing a lot more blue and black, and as he moved he saw that his hair was blond, and the brim of a blue cap was on his head. "Uhh…"

"Moon?" For a second Sapphire thought that it was Willow, considering she had the same golden hair, but her clothes were different colors, with the usual pink dress being blue and red ribbon being blue. She also didn't have her sash and held a pink teddy bear. She was also way too close. Like, Willow got close sometimes, but she didn't hover an inch away from his lips.

"Is this some more of your weirdo psychic stuff?" The voice and face were familiar, but the hair and eyes were different. Instead of blond hair and blue eyes, he had black hair and brown eyes. He also seemed to talk in a much more relaxed tone and wasn't shoving scientific technobabble and large words down his throat.

"I have SEVERAL questions!" There was another sudden burst of letters and numbers as the universe flashed before his eyes, before resetting again. Also, where were the line breaks? All that was happening now were these weird Omegas and wait how did he know that what's going on are we in a video game what the he—

Ω

"…So, Ness, where to next?"

Okay, so now everyone looked normal, but he was being called Ness. Damn it. What was going on?

"Summers, apparently." He answered, instinctively. Summers? What? "You have enough Bottle Rockets, Jeff?"

"Yep. You and Paula have your psychic energy ready?"

"Yep," The blonde masquerading as Willow nodded, shyly. Yeah, this wasn't right. Willow, shy? Psh, that would never happen. "I think we'll meet our next friend somewhere in… Summers, maybe?"

"What's his name?"

"Um… Prince Poo."

"…"

He and Anth— Jeff burst out laughing. What kind of name was—

More numbers and letters, before—

Ω

Sapphire blinked as Willow shook him. "C'mon, silly! Are you sleeping on the job?"

"Psh, you wish. I'm not giving you the chance to draw on me or something stupid like that!"

"Aw c'mon, I would never!" She stuck her tongue out, before helping him back to his feet.

"Why were you just staring into the corner?" Anthony asked.

"Was I?" Sapphire shrugged. "Probably just bored from doing this for however long we were doing it." He stretched, before grinning. "Now come on, let's get going!"

* * *

**Hope the Omake was enjoyable, as well as the little Easter egg to another Earthbound story **_**Bound By Earth**_**. It's more character focused, rather than my story's plot and battle focus, with sprinkles of character interaction, but it's still a fun and enjoyable read. I recommend checking it out if you like Earthbound. It's got a few interesting twists on the story of its own.**

**And other than that, I hope you enjoyed the actual chapter too. Review with something you liked, or just say "good chapter," or something. Both make me happy. Alrighty, see y'all next time.**


	12. Chapter 12: Belch's Base

**Welcome back, apologies for the wait. Graduation from high school and getting ready for college has taken up a bit of time. Hopefully, now that summer has started up, I'll have much more time for writing.**

**Oh, and happy Independence Day for any of my fellow Americans reading today.**

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Belch's Base

Sapphire blinked as the last of the light vanished, before getting up and approaching Willow. "You okay?"

Willow nodded as he helped her up, before watching as he helped Anthony up. "Yeah… I'm fine. Luckily."

"Luckily?"

"I'd like to know just what that light was. You certainly didn't create the light, so what caused it?"

Willow sighed and the back of her head. "I'm not sure what it is myself… Whenever I pray for a miracle, something just… happens. Sometimes it helps… and sometimes… I hurt someone once, I prayed that we would be okay, and while we were, in the process they were hurt, and…" She shrugged and looked away.

"You don't have to tell us about it if you don't want to," Sapphire replied.

"You're telling me that you just _pray_ and a light shines down? I can believe in psychic powers, but that sounds…" Anthony just shook his head.

Sapphire just smiled and ruffled Willow's hair. "Don't worry about it. Let me guess, you don't like using your… Pray ability or whatever, because you think you might hurt me or Ant?"

"Yeah, basically."

"That seems dangerous, I can understand why you have not used it before now," Anthony nodded.

"Then you don't have to use it." Sapphire smiled at Willow, throwing an arm around Anthony's neck. "You won't have to use something you don't like using as long as you've got me and Anthony watching your back!"

Willow nodded, smiling. "Thanks, Sapph."

He just grinned back, before pointing to the ladder. Now come on, let's get out of here!"

Sapphire ascended the ladder first, with Willow behind him and Anthony last. At the top of the ladder was an opening that light drifted through, revealing clean, green grass and a sunny sky. Sapphire whistled as he looked around, "wow, I almost forgot that it was daytime with how dark Threed is."

He turned and saw Willow giggling as she spun, feeling the wind blow through her hair. Anthony was blushing for some reason, and looking in the complete opposite direction of Willow. "Why do I have to climb below Willow… get her to wear pants or something…"

"Ant? Did you say something?"

"NO! Ah, no, pardon." He cleared his throat and pointed up at the clouds. "Anyway, look over there." Sapphire turned and raised an eyebrow at what he saw. The clouds were swirling, kind of similar to how a hurricane swirls, with the eye of the storm being over the whole valley that they were in. "It looks similar to what I saw when in the Skyrunner and flying over Threed, does it not?"

"Yeah, it does…" Sapphire hummed and tilted his head. "So, that means that something is making the clouds cover Threed, and is sucking up all the sunlight, right?"

"Indeed, or at least it seems that way. I assume once we defeat whatever creature is causing this, Threed will return to normal."

"That barfy guy said something about a Master Belch, right?" Willow tilted her head and tapped her chin. "Maybe that's the meanie causing the darkness in Threed?"

"Perhaps."

"Well, we won't find anything standing out here." Sapphire grinned and began walking. "Come on, let's get going!"

After a few minutes of travel, they saw a man sitting in the grass, with a bag by him. He smiled when he spotted the kids, and waved. "Ah, hello there!" He stood, stretching. "You have a long road ahead of you, do you not? The here's no need to explain, very few people come here."

"Uh…"

"You see, there is a village ahead of here, with very interesting people… it is not on any maps, so the few people that know about it keep it secret."

Sensations shot through Sapphire's head as his Clairvoyance activated, odd music, weird speech patterns, and images of strange, round creatures filling his mind.

"Should we tell him we didn't know anything about the village?" Anthony whispered.

Sapphire rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we're heading over now. Uh, see you, I guess."

"Yes, yes, bye bye!"

As they walked away, Sapphire rooted around in his bag for his maps. As he looked over the ones for the Threed area, sure enough, there was no mention of any villages nearby. "Looks like the area we're in is called Grapefruit Falls…"

"Where are the grapefruits?"

Sapphire rolled his eyes, "There are a few caves nearby, but nothing else…"

"Maybe the guy was crazy!" Willow said sagely.

Anthony just rolled his eyes. "Perhaps, But you never know. We'll find out if we explore enough, I suppose.".

They continued walking, eventually nearing a large purple river, that was flowing south before turning west. They walked along the bank until Sapphire stopped them. "Look!" Ahead, a Magic Butterfly was fluttering around, before landing on a flower.

"It's a butterfly," Anthony blandly said.

"Not just a butterfly," Sapphire said, slowly walking forward. He knelt down and held out a finger, letting the butterfly land on it. "A Magic one!" Sapphire's vision tainted purple, as well as Anthony and Willow's, and they all felt relaxed as energy flowed through them. After they recovered, the butterfly had disappeared,

"…what?"

"I don't know what it really is myself, but it pretty much re-energizes you, like my PSI and stuff!"

"I feel great!" Willow spun in place, throwing her hands in the air.

"Although I feel nice, I don't think something that recovers your PSI abilities will be very useful for me," Anthony replied as he shook his head.

"True…" Sapphire grinned and threw his arm around him, "so you really _are_ the most useless member of the group!"

"Hey!"

"Poor Anty!" Willow places the back of her hand on her forehead and gasped dramatically, "he only has his wits and his weapons!" She couldn't keep the act up and began giggling.

"Rude," Anthony muttered, although he couldn't keep a slight smile from forming before he shook his head. "Now come, we should keep moving."

"No, you have to be more dramatic!" Sapphire spread his legs and pointed forward, a hand on his hip. "Onwards, towards adventure!"

"I'm not doing that."

"Onwards!" Willow cheered alongside him. They continued walking along the river until they heard groaning from ahead of them. Several zombies shuffled from around cliff sides, looking just as emaciated and sickly.

"More zombies? How many are there?"

"We most likely just got all of the ones in the Threed area. But they must be spawning somewhere, so if there are more this way, we must be closing in on the source!"

There were several splashes, before what looked like Armored Frogs splashed out of the river and onto the riverbank. "Aw, froggies!"

"I've never seen a frog with armor," Sapphire raised an eyebrow. The frog suddenly leaped at him and latched onto his shirt, before slapping him over and over. "Gah, get it off!" He stumbled back, and Anthony watched with a deadpan face.

"He's getting slapped by a frog."

"That's our leader!" Willow giggled. "Now, bad zombies! PSI Fire α!" She blasted forward a wall of fire, which rolled forward and washed over the approaching zombies. They let off several screeches of pain, before falling apart or turning to ash.

Sapphire finally managed to grab onto the frog with both hands, before tossing it away. He then grabbed his bat and swung down, trying to squish the frog. However, it's armor managed to defend it, somehow, and it wiggled away. "PSI Hypnosis α!" The frog wobbled before Sapphire wound up and bashed it away, sending it sailing through the air across the river. "And it's long gone!"

"Home run!" Willow cheered.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," Anthony sighed.

"Do you want us to praise you for your epic no-scopes?"

"What even— What?"

Willow and Sapphire just laughed and continued walking. They continued walking for about an hour, periodically battling Armored Frogs and zombies along the way. Eventually, they were stopped by a huge horde of zombies, dozens thick.

"Oh crap," Anthony muttered.

"Hey, this just proves we're getting close to their base!" Sapphire grinned, stretching.

"I don't think we'll be able to take down that many zombies, however," Anthony shook his head.

Sapphire wagged a finger, "back at the graveyard in Threed, there was a much more massive force of zombinos,"

"Stop calling them that."

"But we ran because they were spread out, and we couldn't have taken them! But now, they're close together, meaning… PSI Hope β!" The powerful and explosive attack detonated in the center of the horde, almost completely erasing the zombies, while those on the outskirt of the attack were blown to individual pieces.

Only a few survived, so Anthony sighted in and fired, zapping their nervous systems and sending them tumbling to the ground. "Certainly an impressive use of photokinesis."

"Alright, why is it even called photokinesis? That sounds like controlling photos, why not light-kinesis or something?"

"Oh, why glaciokinesis and not ice-kinesis?"

Sapphire and Anthony turned to look at her. "...Glacio means ice."

"Oh. cool!"

Double snorts came from the boys in the group before they continued walking. They eventually reached a small opening in the cliffside, and Sapphire looked inside to see a hallway going deep into the cliffs. "What do you guys think?"

"Let's explore it!"

"There is not much else to do, I concur." they looked at him. "Ugh, I agree."

His mind suddenly recalled the strange sensations he felt and heard and saw earlier. Was the strange village through the caves? "Alright, let's check them out."

"Awesome!" They entered the cave and began exploring. After a few minutes, they came to a slight fork. On the left was another opening deeper into the cave, while on the right the hallway continued further. "Uh…"

"Let's try left first," Anthony decided. After a few minutes of walking, they stumbled upon a present.

"Ooh, a present!"

"Why is there a present in the middle of a cave?"

"It could be a trap," Anthony mused.

"What?" Willow turned around, with an opened present in her hands.

"Or not," Anthony muttered.

"Cool, a rocket!" Willow cheered. She waved it around before Anthony snatched it away from her.

"Careful, this is a dangerous explosive!" He checked to make sure it wasn't about to go off, before placing it in his bag. "Although why a bottle rocket is just sitting in a present in the middle of a cave is beyond me."

"It is weird," Sapphire nodded. "Now come on, let's check out the other hallway." They backtracked before continuing along the other hallway. The cave systems were long enough that Sapphire had to start using Flash to create light. After several minutes they heard a crackling sound, like bugs crawling over rock.

That turned out to be exactly what the sound was, as several violent roaches began skittering towards them. "...huh."

"Cockroaches?" Anthony raised an eyebrow before stomping down. "That doesn't seem so bad."

"Yeah, until they pull out some kind of psychic stuff. Remember the slugs that could use my Hypnosis?"

"True," Anthony nodded. They quickly squished the remaining roaches, before continuing on. After a few more minutes they reached an exit that sunlight poured through, and Sapphire dismissed the Flash. They stepped out into the sunlight, and already something felt different. The sun seemed to shine brighter, the sky was bluer, the grass greener. Maybe Grapefruit Falls just had some of the lingering darkness from Threed?

The path they followed after leaving the cave seemed to twist and turn through the valley until it opened up into a village of… "What." Anthony intoned, deadpan.

"Boing! Hi ho!" Willow squealed and immediately dove down to pick up the round creature. It had two small, round feet, a large nose with whiskers, and a tuft of hair atop its circular body. Definitely the creature from his Clairvoyance episode. And apparently, it was squishy, as Willow squeezed it to her chest and began giggling uncontrollably.

"It's so cuuuute!" She spun in place, hopping up and down.

"What is it?" Sapphire questioned, leaning forward with a grin. The thing was adorable!

"Me Mr. Saturn! Here, all are Mr. Saturn! Boing!"

"Are we sure it isn't being controlled by Giygas?" Anthony questioned, skeptical.

Willow stopped spinning and held out the round creature, still hopping excitedly. "Look at it! How can something so small and adorable be dangerous?!"

"I don't sense any malicious intent," Sapphire shrugged. "And my instincts can usually tell when danger is coming."

"Ahbububububu..." Willow began squeezing the Mr. Saturn and making stupid noises as Sapphire and Anthony simultaneously facepalmed.

"Let' look around the village a bit," Sapphire shook his head, and continued walking deeper into the village of tiny round… Mr. Saturns. Anthony quickly followed, with Willow in the back. The houses in the village were just as odd as the people, being extremely cylindrical, with pointed cone roofs and circular windows, and tiny doors. Some had chimneys with smoke puffing out from the top.

"There doesn't seem to be many… Mr. Saturns here."

"Boing! Once upon a time, we were many, many! Every day, slowly, we are less and less. Why? Hmmm… Boing!" Sapphire and Anthony stared at Willow, who was whistling innocently while keeping her arms behind her back.

"Willow. Put out your hands."

"Why?"

"Willow…"

She pouted and held out the Mr. Saturn she had hid behind her back. "Can't I keep him?"

"No."

"Pleaaase?" She pouted, causing the two boys to groan exasperated.

"It— He— whatever it is doesn't look very bothered," Anthony sighed.

"Fine, but _only_ until we leave."

"Yay!" Willow placed the round creature on her head and giggled. They continued walking around the small village, Willow humming as they did so.

"Are those caves?" Anthony questioned, pointing at openings in the rock walls of the valley, with ladders leading up to several.

"The more important question is how do the Mr. Saturn's climb the ladders?" They all turned to the one riding Willow's head.

"Boing!"

"…alright then." They climbed one of the ladders to see inside of the caves. Enough light streamed inside that they could see clearly, and saw several Mr. Saturn's sitting down randomly around the cave.

"This valley is very odd," Anthony muttered.

"You're just getting that now?" Sapphire questioned. He knelt down in front of a Mr. Saturn. "Actually, we may as well ask. Do you know where an alien base could be? We think there's one nearby."

"Boing! Base… secret! Base behind Grapefruit Falls!"

"Well that was certainly easier than expected," Anthony snorted.

"Is there some kind of password to get in?"

"Password? I tell. Belch man say 'say password!' Wait for three minutes!"

"…what, the password is doing nothing for three whole minutes?"

"Boing!"

"You're joking," Anthony responded.

"It's like the silence game!" Willow cheered.

"It's just stupid enough that it probably will work," Sapphire sighed. "Thanks, Mr. Saturn."

"I suppose that now we know where to go," Anthony nodded.

"But we should stock up on food. Relying solely on my PSI to heal would be really stupid, especially since we can heal from eating food. Er, well, me and Willow can. I suppose using PSI on you will work fine."

"'Willow and I,' and yes, if you exhaust yourself using your psychic healing techniques, you won't be able to help nearly as much in a fight."

"I'm… just going to assume that means you agree."

"Oh— I didn't even use that many large words in that sentence!"

"Yeah, but it's funny seeing you get annoyed at the fact that we can't understand half of what we say."

Anthony glared at him, before rolling his eyes, and they began moving around the caves to look for any kind of shop. The other Saturns didn't have much to say, except for more 'Boings' and other odd words. Some of them even did have items to sell, but they were odd things like Horns of Life, and weird things like that, they decided to not buy any of the items.

Continuing to explore, they found a shop atop several ladders and outside of the cave, with a weird machine in the back that seemed to print money. Instead of trying to sell them weird items, the Mr. Saturn in the shop instead tried to sell them various charms or ribbons, of which the only thing that they bought was a new Red Ribbon for Willow when she began pouting at them to buy it. However, a second Mr. Saturn in the shop sold some regular items, like protein bars and bug spray.

"Alright, I think we've got the supplies we need," Sapphire muttered, doing an inventory check of his bag. "Some bug spray for the weird bugs, food to heal, Anthony, your gun is charged?"

"Indeed."

"Alright, I think that's everything. Come on now, let's get going!"

They began retracing their steps, heading back through the cave systems towards Grapefruit Falls. After several minutes and a few battles against some violent roaches in the cave systems, they were back at the river.

"Perhaps it's named Grapefruit Falls for the odd coloration of the water," Anthony suddenly mused as they walked along the riverbank.

"I guess that would make sense."

"Oh! But does it _taste _like grapefruits?!" Willow took a step towards the river until Sapphire grabbed her by her dress' collar.

"How about we _don't _drink from the purple river?"

"Party pooper," she pouted.

"I have to agree with Sapphire, purple water is usually bad. As in, poisonous."

"You're both lame!" She said, sticking her tongue out.

"I'll have you know I am awesome!" Sapphire exclaimed, placing a palm against his chest and holding his head high.

"I hope this fourth Chosen is saner than both of you," Anthony grumbled.

There was a splash, and they all looked towards the river as what looked to be an alligator crawled out of the water. Sapphire yelped and jumped back. "Alligator!"

"Actually, it's a crocodile. See how the teeth—" Sapphire and Willow simultaneously smacked him on the back of the head. "Well fine then, stay uneducated!"

"PSI Freeze α!" The crocodile growled as it began freezing up before it was turned into a solid ice cube. "Aww! That was quick!"

"Don't complain that a battle was easy," Anthony sighed.

"Yeah, whatever Sanctuary is next is gonna have a super tough guardian, probably. Or this Master Belch guy could be tough too."

"Oh yeah, good point!" Eventually, they reached the waterfall and saw a small path that led behind the falls. Being so close to the crashing water, they had to shout to hear each other.

"Alright, be careful! The rocks could be slippery!" They edged behind the waterfall and found a metal door. Sapphire slammed his fist on it to knock, and an odd voice began gurgling from behind the metal.

"What's the password?"

The three Chosen looked at each other, before sitting down to wait. They quickly began a telepathic conversation, and several rounds of rock, paper, scissors. By the time three minutes had passed, Anthony had lost every game, forgetting that Sapphire and Willow could read thoughts that he didn't even intend for them to hear.

The door opened, revealing a pile of barf with eyes on the other side. Said eyes widened in surprise when it saw that they weren't zombies or another pile of barf, but before it could do anything Sapphire had grabbed his bat and punted the creature into the waterfall. "Let's go!"

The inside of the base looked much different from the rocks and grass outside. The metal walls, floors, and ceiling were a cold gray color, with pipes and walkways crisscrossing above them. "Well, this certainly looks like an alien base."

"What, you didn't catch that from the fact that a pile of sentient barf answered the door?" Sapphire shot back, with a snarky grin.

They appeared to be on one of the upper levels of the base, as there was a railing preventing them from falling to a lower level ahead of them. They began wandering, following the only path they could. Clanks off machinery rang out around them, as cracks in the walls revealed more piping.

"This place is creepy," Sapphire muttered. His gaze snapped forward at the sound of feet slapping against metal, and the group was met with… three small, red creatures. They were pretty much just red ovals with feet and two black eyes, but that was it. "Okay, maybe not that creepy."

"Indeed, who would find such lifeforms threatening?" The lead creature jumped forward and tried to kick Sapphire, and while it hurt more than one of the mushrooms or sprouts, it still didn't hurt as much as a zombie bite or even one of the rats he'd fought at Giant Step cave.

Of course, by now he'd realized that underestimating any opponent that wasn't dangerous at the beginning of a battle could be costly. He bashed away the enemy while Willow crushed hers with a pan and Anthony blasted the third. "That was quite underwhelming," Anthony muttered.

"C'mon, we're in an enemy base! Where are the tough enemies?" Willow questioned, pouting.

"They seemed like fodder or something, so they're probably going to try and hang up in large numbers in the future," Sapphire shrugged.

They continued through the corridor until another mini-barf appeared before them. Sapphire got ready to bash it aside before it could blind them, but it seemed too busy sniffing the air… somehow. "Is that Fly Honey?"

"Wow. Just the name alone could make me vomit," Sapphire said, deadpan.

"Fly honey?" Willow asked.

"Yes! Fly Honey! The yellow liquid that is Master Belch's favorite!" Willow pulled the Fly Honey out. "Ah yes! That's it! Since you have that you are obviously an ally!"

They all looked at each other before Willow held out a hand. "PSI Freeze α." The slimy little pile was frozen in place, and Sapphire wound up before smashing it to pieces. "Welp, now we know Belch's weakness!"

"Yeah… Fly Honey." Sapphire grimaced and pushed back Willow's hand that held the jar. "How flies make honey shall forever be a mystery because I _refuse _to know."

They continued walking, eventually coming to an intersection. In front of them was a metal doorway, and to the right was a ladder to a lower level. "So, doorway, or ladder?"

"Let's try the doorway first." Sapphire nodded and they walked forward, but when Willow reached for the handle to open the door,

Danger.

"Wait—" the door opened to reveal five zombies shambling back and forth. At the sound of the door opening, the zombies turned and stared at them. Sapphire slowly closed the door, and turned to his blond male compatriot. "No more suggestions from you." The door bulged as the zombies began busting it down, and Sapphire grabbed Willow by the waist and positioned her between them and the door. "Willow, use flamethrower!"

The door burst open and the zombies poured through before a wave of flame met them. "PSI Fire α!" The zombies quickly fell apart as the flames burned their flammable, rotten flesh, and Sapphire nodded.

"Onward!" Anthony just rolled his eyes as Willow cheered with Sapphire. They checked around the room the now broken door led into and found that it was a dead end. The only thing to note was a small rack with several sticks of dynamite, of which Anthony took all of.

They backtracked and instead climbed down, finding another wave of the red ovals waiting for them. "PSI Thunder α!" Lightning shot up from Willow and arched downwards, striking the creatures. Two bolts missed, while every other struck true. Three enemies were still standing, of which Anthony blasted one, and Sapphire _smashed _another aside and punted the last away.

There were more noises, and suddenly several more waves of the red fodder approached. "Jeez, trying to overwhelm us with numbers, huh?"

"Such a tactic won't work very well as long as you both continue to use your area of effect attacks," Anthony advised, blasting back a creature with his taser.

"PSI Hope α!" The tri-color Attack blasted out, detonating and throwing the creatures aside. "Stick to alpha level PSI, don't waste any energy in case we need it later."

"You got it," she giggled, saluting. "PSI Fire α!" A roiling wave swept aside their enemies, burning them to crisps. The fodder enemies began lowering in number, until suddenly Anthony stumbled back, clutching his head as one of them blasted out a reddish beam.

"Crap, can they use PSI?"

"I… believe I'm going to upchuck my food," Anthony said, nauseously.

"Keep then back, I'll heal him!" Sapphire jumped over a creature and bashed another away, before placing his hands on Anthony's temples. "PSI Healing α!" Green Light flowed from his hands through the blond's head, while their surroundings became illuminated by red light as Willow let loose another wave of fire.

"My thanks," Anthony sighed.

"No problem," Sapphire turned to see that there were still about a dozen of the creatures running at them, and

Danger.

he ducked as another red beam shot over his head. "Let's finish this up, PSI Hope α!" A blast of light, and when the smoke had cleared, none of the creatures remained.

He sighed before a clanking echoed through his mind. The word Hypnosis echoed into his mind, but with a different power level than the one he knew. Hypnosis Ω. Hypnosis Ω. Hypnosis Ω.

Sapphire shook his head, feeling energy flow through his body again. Pink and blue light moved through his veins, and he stretched. Well, a new level of power for Hypnosis was pretty cool, even if he didn't use it much compared to Hope or Flash. It also seemed like his Danger sense or Clairvoyance had activated again, for the first time in what felt like a while. He must have been getting better at fighting if it wasn't activating as much.

"Is everyone alright, then?" Anthony questioned.

"I'm good to go!" Willow giggled, winking.

"Alright, then let's head out," Sapphire responded, grinning at them.

The path split again, a ladder to their left going down, and the path ahead continuing through the metal maze. They decided to climb down, assuming that the deeper into the base they went, the closer they'd be to Belch. At the bottom of the ladder stood another metal door, and just when Sapphire reached for it,

Danger.

"Oh you're kidding me," he groaned. The door bulged out and groans could be heard emanating from the other side, so Sapphire and Anthony just looked at Willow.

"Leave it to me!" She giggled. "PSI Fire α!" The door burst open, and the flood of zombies was immediately incinerated. With them out of the way, the three entered the room the zombies had been guarding. There were only two things of note in the room, besides the flashing ashes of the zombies. One was a small capsule with the letters I and Q on it, while the other seemed to be some kind of broken laser gun.

Anthony looked over the weapon, tapping it. "I can probably fix this up, and I probably should since it definitely looks more powerful than my stun gun…"

"What about this thing?" Willow asked, holding up the capsule. "IQ? Isn't that the smarts thing?"

"IQ means intelligence quotient, essentially someone's intelligence."

"So why does a pill have the letters on it?" Sapphire questioned.

"Oh, oh, maybe it makes you smarter!"

"In that case, you should definitely take it," Anthony muttered, causing Sapphire to choke back laughter.

"A-Anyway, I guess we should hold a vote for who eats it?" Sapphire asked, still holding back laughter.

"If it actually increases IQ, for all we know it could be poisonous."

"What?" Willow asked, swallowing the pill.

"…Why do you always wait for me to say doing something could be dangerous before you do it anyway?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, "'s funny."

"Did you just dry swallow that?" She nodded. "The chaotic energy that takes…"

"Let us get back on track," the blond boy sighed. They exited the room and climbed back up, before continuing down the hallway. After several minutes of bland gray, they came across two chained up Mr. Saturns, sitting in front of a conveyor belt while two slimy little piles watched over them.

Sapphire placed a finger against his lips to indicate silence before he snuck up on one of the piles, and Anthony snuck up on the other. They were conversing with each other, so they didn't hear the Chosen approach them. "Urp! Ugh, I can't make the disgusting noises that Master Belch can!"

"That was plenty disgusting, don't worry!"

"By the way, did you hear that Master Belch is serving some Giygas guy?"

"I can't believe that! Master Belch is the slimiest, no way he's serving someone else!"

"Yeah, apparently while we're making the zombies to invade Threed, some aren't of Giygas is sucking up all the sunlight in Threed and infecting it!"

Sapphire and Anthony looked at each other, memorizing the info before attacking. Sapphire struck with his bat, splitting the pile of barf before punting it away, while Anthony just blasted his creature, disrupting whatever nervous system it had.

"So, there's someone stronger than this Belch guy," Sapphire hummed.

"It would seem so. Perhaps you should keep to using PSI at a minimum, to save for whoever Belch's superior is."

"Maybe," Sapphire nodded. He hopped over the conveyor belt and knelt down next to the Saturns. "Stay still." He wound up and _smashed _the chains apart, letting the two creatures free.

"Boing! Many thanks! We head back to Saturn Valley now! Zoom!"

Willow giggled, "stay safe!"

"Now, Let us keep moving."

"I don't like lettuce." Anthony just shot a glare at him.

"Enough tomfoolery."

"Neither of us is named Tom," Willow spoke up.

"Why do I even bother?" Anthony groaned.

Sapphire and Willow just snickered, "Alright, let's keep goin' then!" They once again began making their way through the metal tunnels, until they reached yet another intersection. A ladder went up, and the path ahead began curving to the left. "So, left, or up?"

Sapphire looked up the ladder

Danger.

And then looked ahead.

…

"Looks like forward is safer, and there's some dangerous stuff above us."

"I would suggest continuing forward then. Even if it is the wrong direction, we won't be wasting energy fighting enemies."

"But if it is the right way, we'll be missing goodies above us! After all, the wrong path always has secrets!"

"Our life isn't a video game, Wils, and I feel like I've said that before…" Sapphire muttered.

"If life isn't a video game, the. Why does spamming PSI Fire work so well?" Willow asked smugly.

Sapphire and Anthony looked at each other. "…she's got a point."

"True."

"Great!" Willow began climbing the ladder.

"Alright, Ant, you next."

"Do not call me that." Anthony began climbing the ladder, but for some reason began blushing and looking to the side.

"What are you doing? Look up and climb, you're being slow." The blond just groaned and went back to looking up after Willow. Sapphire began climbing after him, and soon enough they'd reached the top. Sure enough, several piles of barf awaited them, along with some flies.

"Let's clear them out, PSI Hope α!" The blast of energy splattered several of the creatures against the walls, while three dodged and the flies buzzed away. The flies quickly maneuvered through the air towards Anthony, while the remaining blobs of vomit squelched towards Sapphire and Willow.

"PSI Freeze α!" One of the blobs was flash-frozen, and Willow easily _smashed _it apart, sending shards of ice flying. One of the creatures spat out a sticky mucus, which Sapphire managed to barely dodge before bashing away the pile.

"G-Gah! I need assistance!" The last enemy called out before Sapphire _smashed _it aside. It screeched and tried to spit up more mucus, but Sapphire simply stepped aside and dodged. Before it could attack again it was zapped from behind, by Anthony.

"What happened to the flies?"

Anthony shook a spray can, "remember the Insecticide Spray?"

"Oh, yeah. Alright, let's see what's next!" They looked around and found another metal door, which revealed several flies. Before they could even attack, Anthony sprayed them with the Insecticide. When they had all died, the can sputtered, signaling that it was empty.

"Just as well, it was taking up space," Anthony sighed, tossing it away. They investigated the room, until Anthony found another pill, but with the word 'Vitality' on it. "Another pill?"

"Oh! Lemme see!"

"No, you'll simply swallow it again!" Anthony snapped, holding it away from the girl.

"C'mon, gimmie!" She tried reaching for it, Anthony holding her back.

"No! Even if the last wasn't poison, this one very well could be!" He suddenly felt something wet on his fingers and turned to see Sapphire eating the pill from his palm. "That's disgusting! Ugh!" He shook out his hand, before wiping the spit on Willow's dress.

"We're fighting piles of vomit, spit isn't that gross," Sapphire laughed, grabbing water from his bag and swallowing the pill. Willow suddenly jumped at him, trying to wipe off his spit on him. "Oi!"

"No spit on my dress, take it back!" She laughed.

"Never!" They began wrestling, causing Anthony to groan.

"Both of you are idiots."

"Heck yeah we are!" He and Willow high-fived, causing the blond boy to throw his hands up in frustration, before continuing through the room, eventually finding a small machine. It seemed to be some kind of remote control, with a green button on it and a tube-like antenna coming out the top. Words written on the back read 'Health sapper.'

"What is it?"

"It seems to be some kind of machine that saps health…"

"The HP Sucker!" Willow declared.

"Pardon?"

"HP means Health Points, and it sucks them out of people!" Willow explained. "So the HP Sucker!"

"No, it's clearly labeled as the—"

"I agree! The HP Sucker it is!"

"Whatever," Anthony rolled his eyes. After checking over the rest of the room and finding nothing but a Calorie Stick, they continued journeying through the metal tunnels.

They eventually reached a metal door embedded in a wall, while the pathway ahead continued into the darkness. Instead of debating on whether or not they should enter the door, they immediately opened it, ran inside, and slammed it closed.

Mostly due to the very large wave of the red Foppy's chasing after them.

"GETINGETINGETIN!" Sapphire shoved Willow and Anthony into the room, before pulling the door closed, wincing as the wave of Foppy's slammed into it and caused it to groan. He leaned his weight into it, shoving back with his PSI enhanced strength. The door stopped groaning, although it seemed to be a stalemate. The Foppy's were still pushing against it, so he couldn't move away without the door collapsing inwards.

"Well this is certainly a pickle," Anthony sighed, pulling out a bottle of water and drinking from it.

"Oi! OI! Help me out over here!"

"Don't worry Sapphy! We'll rest up and regain our energy, so when the Foppy's get through we can blast them away!"

"BUT I'M THE ONE THAT'S WEARING MYSELF OUT HOLDING THEM BACK!" He grunted as he lost his concentration for a moment and the door bulged inwards before he managed to push it back.

"You are our leader, are you not? Surely you can give your subordinates a moment to rest."

"Yeah~!"

"Damn it!" He cried, pressing his back against the door and digging his feet into the metal floor.

Willow finished eating a Calorie Stick she had taken from her bag and wiped the crumbs away. "Alrighty, whenever you're ready Sapphy!" Sapphire immediately dove away from the door, pointing his hands forward. "PSI Hypnosis Ω!" Instead of a single blast of blue-pink light, his arms let off a massive pulse, and the Foppy's began falling over each other. "All right, together now! Let's try a Triple Finish! PSI Hope β!"

"PSI Fire α!"

Anthony simply chucked a stick of dynamite.

Both PSI attacks, plus the explosive, impacted with the center of the horde, utterly obliterating every single enemy. Pieces of the red enemies fell here and there, glowing slightly before dispersing. Sapphire and Willow breathed in and sighed, a mixture of PSI exhaustion, plus the tending of their muscles as the energy flowed through them. "That always feels weird…"

"What do ya think it is?"

"Since our enemies are infected by Giygas' control, perhaps when you defeat them and free their minds or kill them, that energy is transferred to you? And you are not becoming evil, as your PSI helps you resist Giygas' influence?"

"Maybe." A fluttering sound drew Sapphire's attention and he turned to see a Magic Butterfly. "Whoa, what's one of those doing all the way down here?"

"Who cares? They're really pretty!" Willow giggled as she let it land on her nose, and all three companions saw purple before their vision cleared.

"That's the stuff," Sapphire grinned, stretching. "Let's take a short break and eat something before we continue on." They got out several sandwiches from their bags and began quickly eating.

While they did so, Sapphire suddenly grinned. "Oi Ant, bet you can't make a sentence without using the letter a!"

Anthony just looked at him. "You complete buffoon. You utter nincompoop. You thought you just did something, didn't you? I'm sorry to burst your idiotic bubble, but numerous, dozens, even, of sentences could be constructed without using the first letter of the English lexicon. You ginormous dunce."

Spphire nd Willow just stred t him. "…Nthony… wot the crp?"

Several minutes later, they finished eating and grabbed their bags. Sapphire grinned and threw a fist in the air. "Alright, let's beat this Belch guy, and his superior, and save Threed and Saturn Valley!"

"Yeah!" Willow cheered, throwing her hand up.

"No need to be so loud. But I concur."

"One day you'll join in on the cheer! ONE DAY!"

* * *

**Seemed like an alright stopping point before the chapter got too long. So yeah, chapter finished. Next time we'll be fighting a large pile of barf plus a pile of dirt, I guess. Always fun.**

**Anyways, review with everything you liked about the chapter if you want, or just something nice. Both are always fun to read. See y'all next time!**


	13. Chapter 13: Premonitions of a Nightmare

Chapter Thirteen: Premonitions of a Nightmare

After continuing through the base for several minutes and fighting several more groups of Foppy's and barf piles, they began seeing strange green puddles on the metal floor. The first one they saw was from Sapphire stepping into a puddle, halting completely, and looking down.

"Oh. Now that's just nasty."

"We have been fighting piles of vomit, I do not understand how _that _is gross."

"It's not like I've gotten any of the barf on me," Sapphire shook his head, "I've just stepped in a puddle of it!"

"Gross!" Willow laughed.

"Whatever, let's keep going." They eventually reached a doorway through which a horrible stench emerged. More puddles were inside, and the three Chosen entered slowly, on guard. Suddenly, a loud burp sounded out and went on for several moments. "All right, I'll admit, that was kind of impressive." Sapphire murmured.

"So, you are Sapphire then? And you two… Willow and Anthony…" the voice began chuckling, "I'm sure you know that there is a prophecy that a boy named Sapphire will destroy Master Giygas…"

"Yeah, that's right!" Sapphire grinned and spun his bat, "What, are you scared?"

The voice began laughing hard, "very funny! If Master Giygas were to be scared of someone, they would have to be worse than the greatest evil!"

"Come on out, meanie! I'm getting payback for the Mister Saturns that you've kidnapped!" Willow called.

"Hm, I'll take you down big time, so get ready for the worst fight of your life!"

"Let's go then!" Sapphire called out. Out of the darkness, from the doorway across the room, a massive pile of barf squished out. It wasn't very tall, maybe only a foot or two, but it's width was much more impressive being around five or six feet. Like the smaller piles of barf, it had two eyes, as well as large fangs coming from its mouth.

"Well, that's quite a large pile of upchuck." Anthony nodded. "I'm not sure my Stun Gun will work on him."

"Leave this to me then! PSI Freeze β!" Her arms turned light blue, before supercooled air blasted forward, slamming into Belch's face. The vomit pile grunted, partially icing up, before shaking it off and burping at the party of heroes.

"Scatter!" They all jumped aside as a visible wave of green gas passed by them before Sapphire ran forward and bashed downwards with his bat. Belch just laughed, his bat simply sinking into Belch's flesh. Liquid? Something. Sapphire jumped back, grimacing as small droplets of barf trickled down his bat. "Alright, how about some PSI Hypnosis α!" Pink-Blue light shot forward and collided with their enemy.

Belch wobbled a moment, succumbing to the sleep power. "Anthony, light him up!"

"On it." Anthony pulled out a Bottle Rocket he'd saved, priming it and aiming directly at the creature's mouth. The monster burped as it swallowed the rocket before it erupted from the inside. Its form bulged and pieces of it exploded apart, and Willow quickly incinerated the pieces that flew away with her PSI.

"Nice!" Belch gurgled as he tried to reconstitute himself, and his form began growing back to its original size as he absorbed some of the puddles in the room. "Oh, poopy."

"Gheh heh heh! I'm invincible here!"

"We need to keep beating him down until all of the puddles are gone, it would seem."

Danger.

Belch suddenly began trembling, before a spike of vomit shot forward towards Sapphire. "Whoa!" He dove to the side, and the spike impacted with the metal wall of the room, spearing through it easily. "Oh crap!"

"I would suggest watching out for that," Anthony advised on the opposite side of the room.

"No, really?! PSI Flash α!" He fired the blast of light at Belch, destroying part of his body and causing the barf pile to growl in pain. Belch tried to move for one of the puddles to regenerate, before both Anthony and Willow electrified the puddle, Anthony with his gun and Willow with her PSI.

Belch groaned in pain, before quivering and shooting out two more vomit spikes. Anthony yelped and jumped aside, the spike ripping his top but not harming him. Willow, however, wasn't able to move in time and the spike nearly impaled her, before Sapphire managed to tackle her out of the way.

He hissed as he felt pain spread through his back, and scrambled to his feet to drag Willow away from another spike. "Aw crap…"

"Thanks, Sapphy," Willow said, readying her pan.

"No probs, Wils." Belch ignored as Anthony blasted him with his taser, instead firing several more spikes of vomit at the PSI sensitives. "Shield α times two!" Shields appeared over their bodies, but they both still moved to dodge.

DANGER.

What? His premonition kicked in, but he was moving fast enough to dodge the spikes coming at him…

As Sapphire moved he suddenly coughed, and a spike shot through his calf. "AGH!" He crashed to the ground, bringing his bat down to smash apart the solid vomit, before pulling the spike out and biting his lip to keep from screaming as he did so. "PSI Lifeup α!" Light covered his wound and it began closing. Before another spike could impale him it began freezing up, stopping an inch from his face.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" Willow brought her pan down, shattering the spike, before shooting another blast of supercooled air at Belch. "PSI FREEZE Ω!" But instead of just supercooled air, Willow's arms completely froze, frost covering her skin and pieces of ice growing and erupting from her veins causing blood to spurt from her arms. A spike of ice at absolute zero slammed into Belch's form, causing him to still before freezing up completely. But even after such a powerful blast, the ice began cracking as Belch attempted to free himself.

Sapphire got up, before grasping his head. Nausea wracked his body, and he felt bile rising in his throat. "Wha…"

"Gheh heh! My body is incredibly poisonous!" The ice around Belch's face cracked, letting the blob laugh. "Even with the small amount of me that entered you when I pierced you, the poison coursing through your veins will kill you quickly!"

"ASSHOLE!" Lightning crackled around Willow's body, but before she could blast Belch, more of the ice around him cracked, and another spike shot out. Sapphire quickly grabbed Willow and pulled her away, moving between her and the spike.

"Shield α!" He powered up his Shield, the spike this time barely piercing it, simply scratching his back instead of stabbing through him. He coughed, going lightheaded for a moment. There was an explosion behind him, and Belch roared as Anthony fired a Bottle Rocket into the blob's frozen form. The explosion shattered the ice, and Belch lunged for the blond boy. Seeing his companion in trouble, he felt a surge of energy. "Get away from my friend! PSI Hope γ!"

He screamed as power flowed through his veins, his emotions letting him use a stronger version of his signature attack before his body was ready to handle it. Just as Willow's body hadn't been able to handle the omega level of Freeze, his wasn't ready for the gamma level of Hope. The light flowing through him hurt his eyes, and his palms erupted, literally, blood exploded from them, as energy flowed out of him

Belch's body was completely blown apart, and several pieces struggled to pull themselves towards various puddles around the room. However, Sapphire fell to his knees, heaving as the poison coursed through him and weakened him. "PSI He…Healing α…" Light flowed over him, but the feeling of nausea didn't disappear. "Crap… the alpha level isn't enough…"

"PSI Thunder α!" Lightning rained down, electrifying each puddle the monster attempted to suck up. Feeling pain, the blobs focused on recombining, all coming together into one clump… right in front of Anthony.

"Bloody hell!" Anthony tossed a piece of dynamite into the growing clump, before dashing away. It detonated, damaging Belch once more, and causing the minion of Giygas to roar in pain.

"Enough!" The puke suddenly pulled itself together at a higher speed than any of the times earlier, and a spike shot forward—

DANGER!

Blood

Guts

Poison, coursing through the blond's veins

D

E

A

T

H

"**NO!" **Belch suddenly halted, his entire liquid form suddenly covered in a light blue aura. Sapphire grit his teeth as his eyes flashed the same color, his arms outstretched. "Anthony, get the hell out of the way!"

"R-right, of course!"

"Willow! Freeze it, now!"

Willow jerked at the fury in his voice, before doing as he said and blasting Belch with a Freeze β. Belch began freezing up again, and Sapphire lowered his arms, the blue glow dying. He suddenly fell over, the poison driving him to near-unconscious.

"Sapphire!" Anthony sped over, feeling his neck with his index and middle fingers. "He's… he's alive, he has a pulse. What was he doing to Belch?"

"That was telekinesis," Willow explained. "But it looks like it took a lot out of him. It makes sense though, even telekinetically controlling a stuffed animal is the most I can do…"

Sapphire groaned, and Willow looked at him, worried. "Sapphire, is there any way to help you?"

"I… can try and use Healing again, but I'll need some energy…" the ice around Belch cracked again. "And it looks like… he's breaking out… no time to rest…"

"Let me try something." Willow forced PSI through her hands but didn't focus it into an elemental attack. Just raw PSI energy. She felt a lock click in her mind. PSI magnet α… but that wouldn't help, it would simply take his energy, not restore it… unless she could reverse it?

"Whatever you're doing, I would suggest doing it hastily," Anthony muttered, readying a rocket as Belch continued attempting to free himself. Willow redoubled her efforts, and Sapphire gasped as energy flowed into him. Their minds connected like they were using telepathy for a moment before he let off a sigh.

"PSI Healing… β!" The light glowed brighter than before, and the nauseous feeling dissipated. "Alright!" He got up and laughed. "Much better! Now— PSI Lifeup α, times three!" The team's wounds closed up, and by the time Belch had finally shattered the ice around him, they were back to full strength.

"Give it up, Belch! No matter how much you regenerate yourself, we'll simply beat you down over and over again! You stand no semblance of a chance!" Anthony caked out.

"You…!" Belch lunges forward, and Sapphire met him with a calm step, that hid his rage. Even if he was safe now, he could still recall the terror he felt when he saw the premonition of Anthony's death, or Willow's for that matter.

Just as Belch began lunging onto him, he held out his hand, his Palm impacting with Belch's center of mass. "PSI Hope β." Belch stilled, light coursing through his liquid mass, before splattering all across the room.

"That was awesome!" Willow gushed.

"But he isn't done yet," Anthony pointed out. "Even if we can outlast him, we'll be tired out, there has to be something we can do…"

"Willow, Anthony, What do you have in your bags?"

"Explosives, tools, food, and water."

"Uh, same, but minus the techie stuff… oh, and the Fly Hone—"

"The Fly Honey!" Anthony snapped his fingers. "Toss it over!" Willow blinked and did so. Anthony smirked as he grabbed it, unscrewing the cap. "If what those piles of barf were saying is true, then Belch loves this stuff. So, if we entice him with it…"

Sapphire grinned. "I knew we kept you for a reason!"

"Excuse me? I'm not a dog!"

The horrid stench of the honey wafted across the room, and Belch's pieces stilled. They suddenly all came together and stared at the jar. "Is that… Fly Honey?"

"Hm? Indubitably. Would you like some?" Anthony smirked as he wiggled the jar, a drop falling to the ground. Belch lunged forward, sucking up the yellow liquid. "Here, have all that you want!" He dumped the contents onto the floor, and Belch began scarfing it down.

"Willow, evaporate the puddles with Fire. Anthony, stay back." Sapphire twirled his bat, before swinging. He bashed off a chunk of Belch's head, but the monster completely ignored him, continuing to eat. He continued bashing, whittling down Belch's mass.

By the time Belch had finished his Fly Honey, he realized he had practically nothing left. Even after looking around, he saw that all of the puddles were gone. "W-well looks like it was an even fight! Burp!"

"Yeah, an even fight," Sapphire said, narrowing his eyes.

"But! Master Giygas has already managed to get the Mani-Mani statue into Fourside! The city will soon be in worse condition than living in your own puke!"

"Seems we have to hurry to Fourside," Anthony muttered. Sapphire didn't answer.

Darkness

A realm upside down

Willow.

G

O

N

E.

Belch began maniacally laughing. Sapphire grit his teeth, rage fueling him again. What was that premonition?! Willow, gone?! No! He refused!

**Kill him.**

No—

**End him.**

I won't kill something that can think and become better—

**He'll hurt you. Giygas shall hurt you.**

I refuse to kill someone th—

**He'll hurt your family. Giygas will send everyone.**

I…

**Your friends will perish.**

I won't allow that… He deser**ves to die.**

"**PSI Hope Ω." **

Anthony and Willow's eyes widened, and the blond boy quickly grabbed the golden-haired girl, "look out!" The explosion of psychic energy that left Sapphire's body tore apart the room. In front of him, the metal warped and twisted, smoking as it melted. The only reason why the opposite side of the room, and his companions, were still intact was simply because he wasn't facing them. Even then, they still felt singed.

**His body stared down coldly at the melted hole where Belch's body was until it felt a punch across the face. Since it came from Anthony it didn't even hurt, the differences in the blond's strength and his body's vitality simply too vast, but it still shocked him.**

Suddenly, he was back in control. "What the bloody hell was that about, Sapphire?!"

"Wha—"

"You could have killed us!"

Sapphire looked up, seeing the twisted metal. "Wha… did I…?"

"Indeed! You did!" Anthony poked him forcefully in the chest. "Explain!"

"I… I don't know… I just… lost control?"

"You lost control?! Well isn't that bloody brilliant! Are we going to have to watch out for any more temper tantrums in the future then?!"

"Sapphire…" he winced. Willow sounded scared. Was he…? How could he do that to her? And Anthony… he turned, his male companion was still angry, but there was a level of fear behind his eyes. He wasn't… he didn't want to…

She suddenly touched his cheek, their slight height difference causing her to look upwards at him, ever so slightly. "Are you alright?"

Damnit. Even now, while she was scared of him, she still wanted to make sure he was alright. Anthony sighed and grasped his shoulder. "What… caused that? Are you still poisoned, perchance?" And Anthony too…

His eyes teared up, and he turned away. "It's… nothing." Willow embraced him from behind, hugging him.

"Sapphire… Sapphy… please…"

"I… my premonition kicked in. I saw a vision…" he didn't want to scare her. So should he tell her what he saw? What would happen in Fourside? No, no, say something different. He could… he _would _change that. "During the battle… I saw premonitions of you being stabbed over and over again, and Anthony being stabbed through the heart… I got scared… angry… I'm sorry."

Willow smiled, "it's okay. We're fine. Just… don't let it happen again, okay? We're right here, we won't leave you." His heart clenched.

"If a prophecy states that we shall assist you in saving the world, then we shall stay by you," Anthony nodded. "Now come, we still have to eliminate whoever is sucking up the sunlight from Threed." The blondes exited the room, carefully walking over the distorted metal, and Sapphire sighed.

He hadn't told the full truth after all. He didn't want Willow to disappear… he cared about her… and Anthony too, of course! But… that wasn't just it… the moments before he lost control…

Had he heard a voice?

* * *

Sapphire stayed silent as he sat in the hot springs.

The room after Master Belch's has been some kind of prison area, housing many Mister Saturns. After freeing them all, they found an escape route that, coincidentally, led straight to one of the upper areas of Saturn Valley. The Saturns immediately began wobbling away, and one led them towards a hot spring where they could relax.

They all jumped in, Willow starting a splash war that he half-heartedly joined in on. Seeing this, Willow soon stopped, and they bathed in silence. It became so awkward that even Anthony attempted to crack a joke.

"So… bathing in our clothing… that's… fun?" Silence met him. "Well, that's the last time I try and lighten the mood."

"Sorry, guys," Sapphire sighed. "I'm probably bringing your moods down right now…"

"Sapphy, it's okay. Seeing a prem— preom—"

"Premonition."

"Future sighting our deaths was probably really stressful!" Sapphire felt an involuntary smile grow and chuckled. Willow certainly had a knack for raising his mood, even without trying.

"Boing! Drink coffee while relax? Say yes to me? Say no to me?" A Saturn wandered over, a plate with three cups somehow balanced on its head.

"Uh…"

"Why not?" Anthony shrugged. "After that fiasco, I could definitely relax some more." They all took a cup, and Sapphire stared into his, before taking a sip.

His gaze became foggy, and he unconsciously leaned back, as a voice began speaking.

_You've traveled very far from home…_

_Do you remember how your long and winding journey began? With someone pounding at your door? It was Pokey, the worst person in your neighborhood, who knocked on your door that fateful night. _

_On your way, you have walked, thought, and fought. Yet through all this, you have never lost your courage. You have grown steadily stronger, though you have experienced the pain of battle many times. _

_You are no longer alone in your adventure, Willow who is steadfast, kind, and even pretty, is always by your side. Anthony is with you as well. Though he is annoying, he is also a genius, with kindness in his heart who came from a distant land to help you. Sapphire, as you certainly know by now, you are not a regular young man… you have an awesome destiny to fulfill. _

_The journey from this point will be long, and it will be more difficult than anything you have undergone to this point. Yet, I know you will be alright. When good finally battles evil, which side do you think will win? Do you have faith that good will be triumphant? _

_One thing you must never lose is courage. If you believe in the goal you are striving for, you will be courageous. There are many difficult times ahead, but you must keep your sense of humor, work through the tough situations, and enjoy yourself. _

_When you have finished this cup of coffee, your adventure will begin again. Next, you must press through a vast desert and proceed to the big city of Fourside. _

_Sapphire…_

_Willow…_

_Anthony…_

_I wish you luck…_

Far away, a monk prince sitting atop a spire breathed out. It was not his time. Not yet. But for now… he could at least reassure his future compatriot. He had the strength to continue on. For now, he would let the boy's female companion finish reassuring him.

_"Take a melody,_

_Simple as can be,_

_Give it some words and,_

_Sweet harmony._

_Raise your voices_

_All day long now_

_Love grows strong now_

_Sing a melody of Love, oh Love…"_

Anthony sipped at his coffee as Willow sang. "You know, that's a very Interesting song."

"It's a lullaby my mother used to sing to me," Willow smiled. "I sang it to Sapphire once and he seemed very relaxed by it." They looked over to see him peacefully resting. "I figured it might help him relax a bit."

"Considering it's a fairly known lullaby I'm not surprised you know it. Did you know there are more verses to the song? As well as a fairy tale?"

"Really?"

"Indeed. I'm not quite sure how it goes, but from what I remember, the fairy tale tells of an abandoned monster that a human couple took in. Many years later the couple released it to be free after it had grown up. Years later it attacked humanity, for a reason I cannot recall, and a group of four saved the world by tracking down eight melodies, creating the lullaby that the mother had sung to the monster every night."

"Wow…"

"I believe it ends by the monster having its mind torn in two. One part of its mind wanted to destroy humanity, while the other remembered its parents and desired peace. This duality caused it to retreat, and it wasn't seen again. Of course, I may have mixed up some of the details, I never really was very interested in fairy tales."

"But that's a cool one! How do the rest of the verses go?"

"I don't truly recall, but… Hm… I think it's something like…" Anthony cleared his throat and began singing, his voice not as clear as Willow's but still nice to listen to.

"_Oh, Love is the power,_

_Love is the glory,_

_Love is the beauty _

_And the joy of spring._

_Love is the magic,_

_Love is the story,_

_Love is the melody _

_We all can sing._

_Love… love, oh love… love…"_

He stopped, "and then it repeats the 'Take a melody,' part, though slower."

"Wow, you have a really nice singing voice!"

"W-well, it's not that good…"

"We should get Sapphire to play guitar for us! We could make some amazing music!"

"Well… maybe…" he chuckled and looked over to Sapphire to see him staring at the sky.

"That song… it reminds me of something. My parents used to sing me that lullaby too. But they said that my grandfather taught it to them."

"It's a nice lullaby," Willow smiled, shrugging. "I'm not surprised your parents would know it."

"Hm…" Sapphire sighed. "It's getting late, we should probably find someplace to sleep, before figuring out where to go next."

"Rightio!"

"Of course."

As they got out of the hot springs Sapphire spotted a sign next to a cave opening that read 'hole, milky well! What this… ding, ding!"

Sapphire suddenly remembered the vision he had back at Lilliput Steps, of the white pond that spewed liquid into the air. "Well, that was easy," he muttered. "Come on guys," he spoke louder. "Let's get some rest."

Going down into the main valley, they eventually found a larger house than the others, which the Saturn inside called a hotel. As Anthony and Willow got ready to sleep, Sapphire used a phone inside the house to call his mother. Weirdly, he had to climb a ladder up to a table holding the phone. He quickly dialed the number and let it ring.

"Hello?"

"Howdy, mom."

"Oh, Sapphire! It's so good to hear from you! But I can hardly hear you… it sounds like you're calling from the moon or something!"

"More like Saturn," he chuckled to himself. "Anyway, I know I haven't called in a bit, so I wanted to let you know I'm alright. I got a new friend, Anthony. He's pretty smart, actually he's super smart, and me and Willow sound pretty dumb whenever he talks," he chuckled.

"He sounds interesting," his mother laughed. "If you're doing okay that's great, I'm happy to know you're safe. I'm giving King a flea bath right now, so I can't really talk, but I'll let Tracey know that you called."

"Alright, mom, see ya." He hung up, before dialing his father's number.

He heard a click before the third ring. "Howdy, howdy, who's this?"

"Howdy, dad."

"Kiddo! You haven't called for a while! How's your adventure going?"

Sapphire smiled and began talking, detailing everything that had happened since his last call. Although he did make sure to skip past the times he'd almost died, so he wouldn't worry his father.

"That sounds exciting! I sent some more money into your account, don't spend it all in one place, kiddo!"

"Got it, thanks, dad."

"Good luck!" The phone was hung up, and he placed the receiver down. He climbed down the ladder and changed into his pajamas, before climbing into his bed. There were four beds, Anthony had taken one of the end beds for space to work on his gadgets, while Willow was in one of the middle beds. Sapphire slipped into the other end bed, hearing Willow murmur in her sleep as he did so.

Anthony just nodded at him, pulling the covers over him, his tools, and his flashlight so he wouldn't keep the dark-haired boy up. Sapphire sighed, pulling out the Sound Stone from his pocket, and holding it to his forehead. The melodies of the first two Sanctuaries began playing softly through his mind, calming him, and he was able to relax.

He barely felt Willow as she moved closer, resting her head on his shoulder, and he unconsciously leaned into her, the melody lulling him to sleep.

Ω

"_SAPPHIRE!"_

A flash of gold

Neon blues and yellows mixed with never-ending black

"_Damnit, Sapphire, calm down!"_

A shock of pain, a slap across the face

"_She's gone!"_

"_Calm yourself! We'll find her!"_

"_No is yes and yes is no! Welcome to moonside, gheh heh heh!"_

Gravity inverted, walking on the ceiling

His personal nightmare waiting in the tower

"S… A… P… P… I… R… E…"

**Would you kill yourself? I've always been a part of you…**

"I… T… H… U… R… T… S…"

**The urge to kill grows, stronger and stronger as time marches onwards…**

"H… E… L… P…"

**How long can you resist?**

A golden, horned statue

The elbows and the knees snapped

It moved

PSI blasted back and forth in the innermost depths of his mind

The Sea of Eden roared as PSI Hopes clashed against Despairs

"S… a… p… p… h… i… r… e… it's not right… not… right… it's not… it'snotrightit'snotrightit'snotrightit'snotrightit'snotright…"

A brief flash, four children stood atop a mountain as an incomprehensibly powerful monster blasted them back again and again

The monster's visage twisted and warped

It became unrecognizable, a mass of red and black

An abyss swallowed him

Ω

Sapphire awoke, paralyzed. Another… premonition?

He looked over. Willow was still fast asleep, and Anthony had finally gone to bed or at least crashed while working. What did all that mean?

He grimaced, trying to fall back asleep. He wouldn't figure it out by keeping himself awake all night. It was too vague. Why couldn't premonitions be easier to understand, dang it?

* * *

The next morning, they gathered as many supplies as they thought they would need, before meeting up in front of the cave to the Milky Well.

"Alright, everyone ready?"

"My devices are in perfect working condition."

"I'm alllll set!"

"All right, let's get—"

"Pictures taken instantaneously! I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself!" Sapphire turned his head, to see the photo man walk up.

"…Screw it, I'm done trying to figure this out. Just take the damn picture."

"Finally! Took you long enough!" The man laughed and set up the camera. "Alright, ready? Now say… Fuzzy Pickles!"

Willow jumped onto his back, Anthony simply adjusted his glasses and smiled, and he threw out a peace sign and a smirk. One flash of a camera later, and the man was gone.

"…alright, now that that's over with, let's get going!" They entered the opening, to reveal a cave that went on so long that the light eventually ran out.

"I am getting quite exhausted of caves," Anthony sighed.

The other two just snickered and kept walking. Some ways in, they heard something that sounded like leaves crinkling. It of the darkness ran several mobile sprouts, the small leaf-like enemies that Sapphire had fought at Peaceful Rest Valley.

"Sprouts?"

"This'll be easy! PSI Fire α!" Fire washed through the cave, curling up against the walls and ceiling like an ocean wave, before crashing back down on top of the sprouts. They were quickly incinerated, nothing left but ashes.

"I think we should leave all of these plant-based enemies to Willow," Sapphire chuckled.

"She most certainly makes things easier," Anthony hummed.

"Heck yeah! I'm the DPS party member!" Willow exclaimed, proudly raising her frying pan.

"Hey don't get ahead of yourself, whoever the fourth Chosen is, he may be more devastating with his PSI than you." Sapphire pointed out, smirking.

"Hey! Never doubt a lady's ability to destroy things!"

"I feel like there's a joke in there somewhere," Anthony smirked to himself.

They all tensed up when more shuffling noises sounded out. "More of them? Willow, just burn down the tunnel."

"Hah, alrighty then! PSI Fire α!" The Fire burst forward, flowing through the tunnel, painting it a crimson red and sundown orange. Suddenly, a spear shot out of the fire, heading straight for Anthony.

"BLOODY HELL!" It suddenly stopped, screeching to a halt inches from his nose. He jumped back, adjusting his glasses, as they almost fell from the bridge of his nose during his panic.

Sapphire breathed out, lowering his arms and letting the spear fall to the ground with a clatter. "I think I'm getting better with my telekinesis now…"

as the fire died down, a creature jumped forward. It seemed to be some kind of plant-human, standing on two legs, with two arms and a head atop a torso. "Fascinating! It seems to be some kind of humanoid-vegetation hybrid! Perhaps this is the result of Giygas' influence in a plant over an extreme period of time?"

"This science stuff is confusing! But basically, it's an enemy right?" The creature suddenly jumped forward, and Willow heated up her frying pan, before bashing the creature back.

"Essentially!" Sapphire grinned, twirling his bat before _smashing _the creature's head off, sending it flying away, while its torso landed on the ground with a sound similar to dropping a pile of sticks. In fact, that's exactly what the body did, the moment it died the leaves fell away, and several sticks inside it clattered apart.

"Ah! Giygas' influence somehow managed to create a creature that had sticks and wood for a skeletal structure, with leaves as the muscular and integumentary system! That's quite fascinating! If I were to guess, the head would have some kinds of berries, vegetables, or fruits as the—" Anthony looked around to see that Sapphire and Willow had left him behind while he ranted. "Uncultured… ugh."

After catching up, they continued through the cave, Willow incinerating any more sprouts they encountered, while Anthony and Sapphire tag teamed the humanoid plants, Anthony zapping the creature's spears away, and Sapphire bashing them apart.

They eventually made their way back outside and had to shield their eyes from the brightness. If Grapefruit falls and Saturn Valley has been at the edges of the eye of the storm, this small valley they had found themselves in was the very center. Directly above them pure, concentrated sunlight streamed downwards past a valley wall ahead of them, while all around them the clouds that prevented any light from entering Threed or the surrounding areas.

"Seeing that much sunlight being sucked in…" Anthony adjusted his glasses, narrowing his eyes. "I'm starting to believe that whatever is doing this may not just be trying to corrupt Threed."

"What do you mean?"

"I believe that whatever creature is sucking up that sunlight may also be using it to grow stronger. After all, most of the enemies we've fought on the way here were plant-based, were they not? This… Sanctuary Guardian may actually be some kind of plant monster."

"Wow, that's really smart, Anty," Willow blinked.

"Well, that's good and bad." Sapphire crossed his arms and began walking, his friends following. "If it's plant-based, Willow can kill it easily with Fire and Freeze. But if it's been sucking up sunlight for days upon days now, how strong is it getting? It could be the toughest thing we've fought so far…"

"Hey, don't start getting down again!" Willow places her hands on her hips, skipping ahead of the party. "With my damaging PSI, Sapphy's healing PSI, and Anty's smarts, we'll easily beat up the meanie guardian!"

"Alright, I'm getting pumped up!" Sapphire grinned and smacked his fist into his open palm, energy crackling. "Let's freaking do this thing!" A spear suddenly shot by, drawing blood from his cheek where it grazed him. "…Maybe I should have been paying more attention to our surroundings…"

"No, really?!" Anthony drew out a new gun, this one looking fancier than the taser. It looked more like an actual gun, specifically a hunting rifle. The barrel had several lights on it, while the end had an opening that small crackles of electricity would flash from. The handle itself had a few dials on it, and the stock seemed very homemade like it might accidentally collapse after being fired once.

"Where'd you—"

"The broken laser from Belch's Base, I used my taser earlier simply because the cave was small enough already without me bringing out a rifle."

"Ah." several of the plant-humans surrounded them, Sapphire suddenly reached down to his belt, grabbing the slingshot and its pellets that he had almost forgotten about. He quickly took aim and fired, blasting a hole through one of the creature's heads.

"Now, let's test this thing out," Anthony sighted on a creature running at them, and pulled the trigger. A concentrated beam of red light shot from the barrel, which gave no recoil at all, as lasers were simply light and heat. The creature screeched as the laser burned through its body, setting it alight. "Very good… the power output could use some calibration, however…"

"Hyahh!" Willow bashed away another creature as it got too close, before throwing her arms at another, "PSI Freeze α!" The monster screeched as it began freezing up, its green coloration shifting to dark browns and blacks as the plant-life making up its body withered and died.

Sapphire holstered his slingshot and smoothly drew his bat, jumping away from a spear and swinging down, breaking the sticks making up its arms. The creature stumbled forward, and Sapphire spun in place to build momentum before _smashing _apart the creature's torso. Another spear flew towards his face before he hastily brought his bat up to knock it aside. "PSI Hope α!"

The explosion of light blasted apart several creatures, sending leaves and twigs flying. The three Chosen breathed a sigh of relief until several sprouts and mushrooms began running up. "Great," Sapphire sighed. "Willow?"

"Ready! PSI Fire α!" the flames began crackling, burning through the grass of the valley before consuming the sprouts and mushrooms. Several survived, however, and began circling around the companions. The sprouts began glowing, and suddenly both Sapphire and Willow stumbled, feeling their PSI being drained from them. Of course, since PSI wasn't actually stamina and was just their mental energy, they didn't grow exhausted, but they knew they soon wouldn't be able to use their powers.

"Q-quick! Kill the sprouts!" Sapphire bashed aside a sprout, before stomping on another. Anthony blasted several directly where the stem and leaves connected, incinerating and destroying them easily, while Willow crushed several with her pan.

While they were distracted by the PSI sucking sprouts, a mushroom suddenly jumped up onto Sapphire's back, shaking spores onto him. "Ah… oh crap…" he began feeling nauseous and light-headed, his mind twisting and turning as gravity seemed to go sideways.

"_Get them!"_

"_Sunlight!"_

"_Sunlight!"_

"_Laugh with us!"_

Sapphire blinked as the world took on psychedelic colors, stumbling. It was kind of nice though… no, wait! It's wrong! He reached up and grabbed the mushroom riding him and held it at arm's length in front of him, powering up a Hope in his other hand and pointing at the mushroom as if his hand were a gun. "Tell… What…"

His mind was so confused that he spit out the first thing he could think of. "Tell me the name of god, you fungal piece of crap."

"_Can you feel your heart burning? Can you feel the struggle within? The fear within me is beyond anything your soul can make. You cannot kill me in a way that matters."_

Tears streamed down his face, as he powered up the Hope even more. "I'M NOT FREAKING SCARED OF YOU!"

The mushroom suddenly exploded as Anthony shot it with a laser, and Willow slapped him. "Snap out of it, Sapphy. Use your PSI Healing."

"Uh… PSI Healing… Healing α…" his mind was cleared, and he looked down at the remains of the mushroom. "What in god's name just happened."

* * *

**So I totally got inspiration for that mushroom bit from a tumblr sh!tpost. The full one is below if you don't mind curse words.**

** Ω**

**Me holding a gun to a mushroom: tell me the name of god you fungal piece of shit **

**mushroom: can you feel your heart burning? can you feel the struggle within? the fear within me is beyond anything your soul can make. you cannot kill me in a way that matters **

**me cocking the gun, tears streaming down my face: I'M NOT FUCKING SCARED OF YOU**

** Ω**

**So yeah. Other than that, I had fun writing this chapter, plus with me having more free time I was able to finish it in an incredibly short amount of time.**

**So, some premonition stuff. Obviously important, since that's literally the chapter title. I'll be honest, I've been trying to find a way to smoothly integrate Ness' Nightmare into the story since the very first chapter, and this seemed like the first good opportunity. He won't be popping up much, just instances of severe emotional distraught-ness.**

**After all, in-game he's supposed to be the darkness in Ness or something, but it's never really explored. I want to try and go more in-depth with that, or something. **

**Ah, and some Mother One lore. Or Earthbound Zero? Whatever you want to call it. I've never liked how no-one really talks about the connections between the two games, I've always found it weird. It's pretty obvious that Giygas is Giegue, just suuuper insane now from the cognitive dissonance from the ending of Mother One.**

**Plus a little hello from the Prince of Dalaam. The coffee scene is super weird and there's no explanation for it besides the player just thinking, 'wow, what drugs did Mr. Saturn put in **_**that?!' **_**So I thought I'd make it a psychic phone call from the Prince. **

**Anyway, that's that. Review with what you liked in this chapter if you want, or just a little 'nice job.' Both are fun to read. **

**See y'all next time!**


	14. Chapter 14: The 'Three'd Sanctuary

**Couldn't think up a good chapter title. **

**So enjoy a crappy pun.**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: The 'Three'd Sanctuary

Anthony blasted another plant-humanoid, letting Sapphire bash aside the ones that got too close, while Willow took care of any grouped up monsters with Fires.

"Batter up!" A leafy head flew by, courtesy of Sapphire, who spun and knocked yet another monster aside.

"How many more of these creatures are there?!" Anthony growled out.

"Enough that we'll level up a ton!" Willow cheered, throwing out a Freeze at a lone enemy.

"We aren't in a video game!" Anthony groaned back, shifting his laser rifle to blast away several sprouts before they could begin siphoning away Sapphire and Willow's PSI.

They were slowly making their way through the valley, towards a cave that seemingly led to where the sunlight was being sucked to. But all along the way, they fought back against plants, sprouts, and mushrooms, one after the other, slowly exhausting them. But they had finally reached the entrance, where the seemingly dozens of monsters were coming from.

"Sapphire! They are clumped together via the entranceway to the cave! Use your PSI, swiftly!"

"Right! PSI Hope β! Get blown away!" The explosion instantly vaporized most of the enemies, while also expanding part of the cave entrance by melting away some of the stone. As the smoke cleared, only a few mushrooms remained that Anthony easily cleaned up with his rifle. "Ready to do this, guys?"

"Heck yeah!"

"Let's."

They walked in, instantly seeing a difference from the outside. It was much damper inside, several normal mushrooms growing in darker spots. A butterfly suddenly fluttered out of a crack into a wall and settled onto Sapphire's shoulder. The PSI sensitives felt their energy return to them, while Anthony felt his exhaustion lower.

After a moment, they all sighed before continuing forward. The cave wasn't large, a simple pathway with a large chasm to their right. However, it seemed darker than it should have been. Sapphire looked up and saw what looked to be a stream of light, flowing through the cave towards the end.

As they approached a dark doorway, a dark and menacing aura fell over them, weighing them down. "So… you've finally arrived…"

Sapphire narrowed his eyes, PSI flickering over his form. "We have."

"This is the third of your Sanctuaries… but it's mine now. Take it from me… if you dare."

"Oh, we dare all right! In fact, we double-dog dare!" Willow called out, sparks flying from her fingers as she stuck her tongue out.

"Don't provoke whatever monstrosity is hiding in there," Sapphire snorted, hiding a smile behind his raised bat. The darkness in the opening lifted, revealing… a pile of dirt with a mouth, and two eyes directly below a stalk with two leaves. "What."

"Fufu… frightened?"

"I am literally the farthest thing from frightened in the universe."

"I am known as the Trillionage Sprout… by absorbing the sunlight falling upon the earth I will extend my life, while also creating hundreds and thousands and millions of plant minions, all for Lord Giygas!"

"So technically photosynthesis, but you're also using it to assist other plants in their growth… I would also assume that Giygas' influence would also decrease the growth time of the plant-humanoids while…"

The Trillionage Sprout blinked as Anthony continued to mumble. "Does he do that a lot?"

"Yes."

"Yep."

"In any case! With the amount of sunlight I have absorbed, I have become as immortal and almost as powerful as Master Giygas! I can now live for trillions of years, hence my moniker! The power I wield shall destroy you all as easily as you would squash a bug! You shall be crushed, as easily—"

"PSI Freeze β."

"—As one would— AGH!" The frozen air began freezing over Trillionage's body, causing it to howl. "HOW DARE YOU?! Sprouts, destroy!"

Several tough sprouts and mushrooms began marching out from behind the dirt pile, to which Willow replied with, "PSI Fire α."

"GAH!" All of the plants and fungi were burnt up, while the Trillionage Sprout began burning up. "YOU WILL SUFFER!"

"PSI Freeze β."

Once again, Trillionage Sprout's body froze up. "NO!" The Sprout on its head turned black, burning up, while it's dirt body turned a darker brown from all of the nutrients dying due to the freezing temperatures. "How could I lose to such children?! This is impossible!"

"…wow. I'm not even disappointed that it was that easy, I'm just shocked that the battle to _get here _was harder than the _actual battle._" Sapphire shook his head. "Well, let's—"

"HAH!" The nearly dead pile let out one last laugh. "You may have defeated me, but I'll take you with me!" Its eyes flashed with malice, and something more.

DANGER!

"ANTHONY, MOVE!" Sapphire shoved aside the blond, just in time. From what, he wasn't sure. For about two seconds anyway.

First, he felt slower, and it was harder to move. Like someone was holding all of his joints, trying to prevent him from feeling his arms or legs. Next, Willow gasped. "Sapphire, you're body, it's…" he looked down, and he saw what was happening. All across his skin, small stones were growing. Actually, less growing, more that his flesh was transforming.

As it occurred he felt his limbs growing heavier, weighed down by the hefty stones. "Oh dear, that's not good," Anthony murmured.

"Oh, ya think?!" Sapphire began moving towards the opening in the rock behind where the Trillionage Sprout had sat, Willow and Anthony grasping onto his arms to help pull him along, his limbs quickly growing too heavy for him to move on his own. "Agh, come on, get me into the Sanctuary!"

"Why?! Just use your healing ability!"

"PSI Healing β!" Nothing happened. "PSI Healing β! β! β! Dang, it's not working! Just keep moving me!" He stumbled, his knee completely transformed into the gem-like Stone, meaning he couldn't bend it. Not just his skin, but he could feel the bones, muscles, tissues, everything turn to stone.

"What is with this Sanctuary that requires you to get to it so badly?!"

"It can heal anything," Willow explained. "It even fixed our clothes in the last one!"

"That's… whatever," Anthony sighed, grunting as Sapphire stumbled again, his other leg becoming fully diamondized. They now had to drag him by his arms, the stone creeping up below his clothing, covering his groin, stomach, and chest.

Anthony and Willow felt the stone underneath their fingers as his arms converted, and continued dragging him until they felt something off. They looked down and saw that the stone was transferring to them. "Aw, no!"

"What is this?!" Anthony shook out his hand, trying to get the stone off before his hand became stuck, the stones slowly making their way up to his forearm.

"Come on, we have to get to the Sanctuary!" They continued dragging, stepping out into the sunlight. Outside was a small valley, nothing inside of it except for the spring of the white liquid at the center.

Sapphire suddenly couldn't see, stone covering his eyes. "Guys?! GUYS?!" He could barely hear Willow reassuring him before gemstones covered his ears. Pretty soon the stone would begin eating at his brain, and he wasn't sure what would happen. Could a Sanctuary restore someone who was technically braindead?

Willow groaned, dragging both Sapphire and Anthony. Anthony was now almost as covered as the dark-haired boy, having one arm and both legs completely stone. She wasn't going to get them there! But… she wouldn't lose her friends! She refused! "PSI Thunder α!" Lightning shot up from her body before she willed it to curve around midair and slam into her back. She was shot forward, Sapphire and Anthony in tow, and she watched as Sapphire's body fell into the puddle.

The diamonds had grown too fast… He couldn't feel, see, hear, nothing. There had been a bump a moment ago as if he had been thrown, but that was it. Except for one thing- In his pocket, something felt hot, even through his stone skin. He suddenly heard a voice, or, he thought he heard a voice.

It sounded like his mother's, and it came from far away… she said, "Be a thoughtful, strong boy…" He felt the stone inside of him begin to turn back to flesh, while the stone covering his skin began flaking away. His clothes, as well, mended, and finally able to move he grasped the Sound Stone and held it out towards the Milky Well. The stone began playing music once again, continuing from where it had left off at Lilliput Steps.

In his mind, he saw a vision of the next Sanctuary. It was an area completely covered in snow, silent and peaceful. Except for one spot, a large puddle, with a light drizzle falling into it forever, even though the rain fell nowhere else.

Sapphire blinked and shook his head. Looking down, he saw that the Sound Stone had filled in another notch. It had the odd cracked object in the center of the well, spewing up the white liquid. The Sound Stone played all three collected melodies, calming Sapphire.

He grinned, standing up and holding it up towards the sky. "I am Sapphire, and I've claimed this Sanctuary!"

"Yeah, that's great and all, but I'm now completely wet," Anthony grumbled, flicking the white liquid from his clothes.

"Be glad you're wet and not stone," Willow giggled. Sapphire snorted alongside her, and Anthony shook his head.

"Come on guys," Sapphire spun the Sound Stone, before sticking it in his pocket. "Let's get going."

* * *

Sapphire climbed back up the ladder, reaching down to help up Willow. After she was up, he reached down and helped Anthony up as well. Although he seemed to be blushing again for some reason. He always seemed to be blushing after climbing up a ladder below Willow… eh, he was probably just tired.

They looked around, finally seeing what Threed was like without the depressing storm clouds covering the sky. Or at least, the wooded area near the graveyard. "Wow, it's so much nicer!" Willow laughed and spun, hair and dress flowing as a breeze blew by.

"It certainly is," Anthony agreed, a small smile forming.

Sapphire grinned, brushing his hair back as his bangs waved in front of his eyes. This, along with freeing Happy-Happy Village from the Mani-Mani Statue, and saving the Mr. Saturns, felt like an incredible feat. They'd saved a town from eternal darkness… they could really do this!

As they began making their way back into town, they saw that several people were waiting near the entrance to the graveyard. "Thank you, Thank you! Thank you for bringing back peace and happiness to Threed!"

"I never would have thought children could save our town! You have my thanks!"

"Peace, love!"

"With the monster's gone, the ghosts in the tunnel have disappeared! Buses can finally get through!"

Anthony visibly swelled with pride, and Sapphire and Willow looked at each other snickering. The blond boy was definitely going to let all the praise go to his head.

They continued walking through the graveyard until they reached the town. Walking through it, more and more people seemed to recognize them, somehow, as the heroes of the town. "Hey, let's go check on the circus tent. See what happened to the zombies."

"Good idea," Anthony nodded. "Perhaps they need assistance with destroying them." They made their way towards the tent, visible over some of the smaller buildings, and entered. The most noticeable difference was that inside of a cage at the corner of the tent, the zombies groaned and sat, unable to escape.

The people inside the tent were ecstatic to see them, however. "You've made our lives peaceful again!"

"We can't thank you enough!"

The three Chosen were bombarded with more thanks until they asked if they needed the zombies destroyed. "Oh don't worry about that, we can handle it! You have to move on though, right? We'll handle Threed from here on!"

As they exited the tent, Sapphire smiled. "It feels really good, knowing how much we helped."

"Yeah! It feels great!"

"Let's take a photo to commemorate! Photos taken instantaneously!" Sapphire groaned before they all got into position, the photographer setting up his camera. "Ready? Say… Fuzzy Pickles!" A quick snap and a flash, and the man was gone.

After that interruption, they finally made their way to the bus stop in front of the Threed hotel. Sapphire checked the schedule, reading through it. "Alright, looks like it'll be a few minutes until the next bus to Fourside comes."

"Great!"

"Perfect." They day down on a bench and waited, Sapphire closing his eyes, Anthony messing around with his Laser gun, and Willow humming and kicking her legs. When the bus finally arrived, they paid the six dollar fare and hopped on.

Most of the benches were filled up, people wanting to get to Fourside already on the bus. They eventually found a bench at the back of the bus, but it would only fit two people. "Well that's great," Sapphire groaned. "Who's gonna stand?"

"Not me," Anthony snorted, moving to sit down.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Willow pushed Sapphire into the window seat, and sat on his lap, before patting the open seat next to them. "Now you can sit down as well, Anty!"

Anthony smirked, eyeing Sapphire. "So, sure you're not dating?"

"I can end you with a thought," Sapphire muttered, looking away. He grabbed the bench's seatbelt and handed it to Willow, letting her clip them in. The bus began moving, driving east through Threed. Outside the windows, they could see people cheering and laughing as they celebrated their town being from monstrous control.

Eventually, the bus left Threed's limits, entering a tunnel east of the town. As the bus moved through it, Anthony had to hold in laughter at the look on Sapphire's face as Willow's hair kept getting in his face.

"Wi— Ptha, Wil— pthss, Willow, move your head!"

"What? Oops, sorry Sapphy!" She moves her head so she lay on his shoulder, and Sapphire immediately shot Anthony a glare before he could say anything. Anthony just held up his hands innocently while smirking, before making a kissy face.

"I will end you. There will be no place to hide from my wrath," he growled.

Eventually, the bus exited the tunnel, driving through the green countryside for about an hour before entering another tunnel. By this point Sapphire had fallen asleep, car and bus rides easily tiring him out. Willow herself had begun yawning, feeling comfortable sitting on Sapphire's lap while watching the landscape go by, and Anthony just began diligently working on his next invention.

"…If I screw this? No. What the heck was this thing even supposed to be?" He turned over the machine that Apple Kid had sent them, trying to figure out what it was even meant to be in the first place. "I can put some kind of screen here… but then what's this control panel for? Some kind of weapon?"

They exited the tunnel, and the first thing visible outside was endless sand. Oh, and dozens of cacti. "That's a lot of sand," Willow noted.

"Of course," Anthony noted. "It is known as the Dusty Dunes Desert, and its expanse is massive, miles upon miles of sand with few oasis's."

"Good thing we're taking a bus!"

"Don't jinx it." A few hours later, the bus stopped.

"…"

"You had to say it. You just had to."

Sapphire awoke when someone shook his shoulder. "What? What's going on? Are we there?"

"No, we stopped for some reason."

Sapphire got up and made their way to the front of the bus and questioned the driver. "Excuse me, sir, but why did we stop?"

"Take a look for yerself, kid," the driver said, chewing some gum. Sapphire looked, and saw dozens of cars ahead of them, all stopped. "It's bumper to bumper, might take hours to clear up. If ya want to get off and walk yer perfectly free too. I'll even give back tha fare since ah' didn't drive y'all all the way."

He walked back and informed Anthony and Willow. "What do you guys think?"

"Waiting for several hours isn't exactly ideal," Anthony murmured.

"But would walking through the desert be any better?"

"Well… technically if we walk at a speedy pace we'd be through in just a few hours… after all, we were driven most of the way already, so we should be fine…"

"Why not run?"

"Oh I'm sorry, do you want to get dehydrated and die from thirst in the middle of a desert? We are not running. We shall be briskly walking."

"Alright, that settles it then." They exited the bus, but not before grabbing their fare from the driver. Immediately, they were hit with a wave of heat so intense they almost thought it was a PSI Fire. Sapphire turned to get back on the bus, but Willow and Anthony grabbed his shoulders and dragged him along behind them.

On either side of the road were massive boulders, blocking them from just entering. The desert. Instead, they had to backtrack a bit to where there was an opening, allowing them to enter the desert proper. However, before doing so they saw a small shack next to the entrance with a sign that proclaimed it was a small drugstore.

They quickly entered, and Sapphire set out to buy as many water bottles as he could, while Willow and Anthony looked around the rest of the store. "Running low on money…" he muttered, checking his wallet. He turned towards an old atm at the side of the store, inputting his card to withdraw some money, and choked at how much was now in his account.

"God, dad, really?!" His bank account now held more than fifteen thousand dollars. "This is insane…" nevertheless, he quickly withdrew a small amount and bought as many water bottles as he could.

"You want a cooler and some towels too, Kid?"

"Towels?"

"You can use the cooler to keep your water cold, and then pour some on the towels to prevent sunstroke and heatstroke."

"Sure, that sounds great!"

"Sapphy…" his smile twitched. He knew what that tone meant. "Could you buy this for me please?" She jumped in front of him and held out a frying pan, it looked fancier than the Thick Frying Pan she already had, as well as a bit sturdier. He stared blankly at her as she blinked innocently.

"…fine. Whatever."

"Yes! You're the best, Sapphy!"

As he paid, the man behind the counter chuckled at their byplay. "What a nice lad you are, paying for your girlfriend."

"Ugh…" he groaned, heat rising to his cheeks, even as Willow snickered.

"Yeah, isn't he great?" She wrapped an arm around him, "the best boyfriend ever!"

"We aren't dating!" He finally cried, causing her to break out into laughter.

"Well, that's an odd thing to hear when randomly walking into a conversation," Anthony murmured. He handed over some calorie bars and a new baseball bat. "I got some food, and this seems to be sturdier than the bat you are already in possession of."

"Thanks, Ant."

"Don't call me that."

With everything finally rung up, the total came out to a couple thousand. Mostly because the bat and frying pan were unbelievably expensive. At least they got some money back by selling their old equipment, which Sapphire put back into his account.

With everything in hand, they finally exited the store and entered the Dusty Dunes Desert. Almost immediately, Sapphire grimaced. "I have sand in my shoes."

"Are you truly going to start complaining when it hasn't even been a minute yet?" Anthony groused.

"Things to come~!" Willow sang, giggling.

They continued into the desert for half an hour, until they came across a couple boulders, a hole with a ladder and a monkey next to them. "What's a simian doing out here?"

"That's a monkey."

"I should have expected that response. I really should have."

"Ya never learn, Ant," Sapphire chuckled. Approaching the monkey, Sapphire knelt down and tilted his head. "Hello, what are you doing in the middle of a desert?"

The monkey chattered as he hopped up and down, Sapphire and Willow's PSI translating the animal. (Our paradise exists beneath this hole,) the monkey indicated the hole with the ladder.

"A monkey paradise?" Sapphire questioned.

"Pardon?" Anthony blandly asked. "I'm sure I misheard you, Sapphire."

"No, you heard him right," Willow giggled.

"So, what, monkeys have a paradise underneath the desert? You got any leaders or something?"

(Yes, the great and kind Talah Rama! He knows everything, and constructed the underground rooms!)

"Just one guy?" Sapphire questioned.

"That's seriously awesome!" Willow gasped.

"I feel as though I'm missing quite a large amount of context," Anthony muttered.

"Hush, I'm talking with a monkey. Can we see Mister Talah Rama?"

(He is fasting and practicing silent meditation! He is also abstaining from anything that would make him sick or smelly too… Please don't bother him!)

"Alright, just asking. See ya later, monkey." They began wandering away, Anthony questioning his psychic teammates on what exactly the animal had told them.

"So some man named Talah Rama constructed underground tunnels and rooms for the monkeys to live in? Preposterous, one man alone couldn't do that without taking several years, unless he used heavy construction equipment, and with how small that hole was it should be impossible to fit any vehicles down it."

"Never heard of PSI?" Sapphire snickered. "I'm willing to bet whoever this Talah Rama guy is, he's got some wicked powerful psychic energy."

"As much as saying psychic powers explains it hurts my pride as a scientist, it does make the most sense." Willow just giggled and patted the blond on the head. "Of course, even then it would have to be extraordinarily powerful, something akin to your photokinesis but on a manageable scale since that tired you out, or perhaps something similar to Willow's pyrokinesis, but more focused to melt through rock easily."

"You're thinking too much into this, Anty! Just accept the magic psycho powers!"

"Wils is right, Ant. Just don't think too hard about it." The blond boy sighed and shook his head, and they continued walking.

After about ten minutes, Sapphire held up a hand. "Wait- I thought I saw something move." They stopped and looked around, seeing nothing in the unending sea of yellow sand.

Danger.

Sapphire spun and swung his bat, a scorpion that had launched itself out of the sand behind them becoming crushed as his metal weapon cracked its boney exoskeleton. It tumbled against the sand and screeched, waving its stinger in anger.

"Hold on," Anthony murmured, "That scorpion isn't natural…" looking closer, the genius realized what it was. "That creature is undead!"

"What?" Sapphire looked closer himself and sure enough, what he had thought was simply a hard bone-like exoskeleton was really just the creature's skull. All across its body, there were places where the actual exoskeleton was missing, as well as flesh and organs, revealing the stark white bone within. "Oh, nasty!"

The scorpion screeched, and several others began digging their way through the sand. "It would seem that we are surrounded," Anthony muttered.

"What, really? I couldn't tell!" He turned away before Anthony could shoot a glare at him, running forward and bashing a Skelpion. Its bones cracked under the force of his blow, shattering, before another jumped at him. He spun and slammed it away, before kicking at another. "Hyah!"

"PSI Fire α!" the glass under their feet began melting as Willow blasted the flame forward, scorching several of the undead. However, when the fire died, the Skelpions were still alive… or undead? Either way, they were still standing.

"Don't use pyrokinesis, these creatures live in the desert, they are obviously resistant to the heat!"

A scorpion suddenly jumped onto his back, and he scrambled to grab it before blasting it point-blank. His laser easily shot through it and killed it, and he stepped back to shoot at several others. The scorpions began scuttling around and digging underneath the sand to avoid his shots, causing him to growl and focus on other targets.

Willow swatted one of the Skelpions out of the air as it leaped at her, before ducking as Sapphire swung his bat over her head, _smashing _away a Skelpion before it could land on her. Smoothly, she turned and shot out a Freeze at an undead that leaped at Sapphire, trapping it in ice and sending it flying away in a million pieces with her pan. Sapphire grinned at her and she grinned back, before a laser flying in between them and shooting down a Skelpion interrupted them.

"Less flirting more killing!"

"I will destroy you."

"C'mon baby, let's do this!"

"Oh, not you too!" Anthony snickered and Willow laughed at Sapphire's whine, continuing to fight the waves of undead scorpions. Anthony suddenly felt a sting on his back and scrambled to grab the scorpion that had snuck onto him. He threw it onto the ground and crushed it under his foot, before reaching back to feel the wound. As he'd thought, it was a singular small wound, done by the pincer of the undead creature.

He knelt down and examined the corpse, checking it over. "Small pincers and a large stinger… oh, these are incredibly poisonous." Anthony suddenly began coughing, the poison starting to kill him.

"Don't worry, I'm on it!" Sapphire ducked and let Willow bat away another Skelpion, placing his hands on Anthony's head. "PSI Healing β!" Anthony flashed, and the poison inside of him was neutralized. Willow suddenly shrieked, a Skelpion stabbing her in the leg. Sapphire ran over and placed his hands on her leg, pulsing energy into her. "PSI Healing β!"

"There's more of them!"

"Alright, enough! PSI Hope β!" Sand exploded upward as the Skelpions were either disintegrated or tossed aside, and Sapphire lowered his arms and sighed. Using three beta level moves in a row had drained him slightly, and they had only been traveling for ten minutes!

He squatted down and breathed in, reaching into his bag for a water bottle. He drank some, before splashing his face. "Hey, look! A butterfly!" Sapphire looked up at Willow's exclamation.

"Great, I can get some PSI back." He got up and approached the butterfly before it flew up out of his reach. "Oi, get down here!" He jumped, but it fluttered away. He began chasing after it, with Willow right behind him.

Anthony just groaned and followed them. "I swear if we die in the middle of the desert because we're chasing a butterfly…"

The run lasted thirty minutes before Sapphire managed to finally catch it by jumping up and grabbing the butterfly. "I am victorious!" Sapphire and Willow felt their mental energy return, while Anthony felt his stamina return. Before anyone could say anything though, a sudden humming noise interrupted them.

Danger.

"Look out!" Sapphire tackled Anthony aside as an orange sphere with a large lipped smile on it burst from the sand. "What the heck is that thing?"

"An enemy, obviously!" Anthony blasted it with his laser, causing sparks to fly as the beam speared through the creature's outer shell, revealing wiring and machinery. "And apparently an automaton!"

"It's one of Giygas' troops then, not an infected creature! We've seen some U.F.O.s back in Peaceful Rest Valley, and I saw what was called a Starman at the beginning of my journey, these must be more of his troops!"

The sphere shot forward and tried to ram into them before Willow intercepted it. "PSI Flamethrower β!" A stream of fire suddenly shot out of Willow's hands, causing the sphere to screech as its armor began melting.

"Whoa, Willow! Flamethrower? Nice!"

"Well, I was thinking about how you said that Talah Rama guy could have a focused version of my Fire, and since I unlocked the beta version of Fire after fighting those scorpions, I thought I might experiment with changing up my PSI!"

The Sphere finished shrieking as its armor finished melting, revealing the sensitive wiring and technology inside. It shot forward towards Willow before Sapphire slammed it skywards and Anthony fired a Bottle Rocket at it. It launched upwards and erupted against the underside of the sphere, finally destroying it.

The sphere fell back down to earth, becoming embedded in the sand. "Nicely done team!" The sphere suddenly started beeping, causing them all to look at it cautiously. Flames started flaring up, all over the machine. "Maybe we should back up…" The machine began sparking, before it exploded, sending out a wave of fire and shrapnel. "Shield α!"

The shield sprung up just in time, the explosion throwing out incredible amounts of force, while Anthony and Willow hid behind him. "K-KONO POWA!" They were all suddenly thrown back, tumbling through the sand. "H-holy crap! That… was awesome!"

"Right? It went kablooey!"

"My shield took it all as well, that was so cool!"

"Yeah, Nice job!"

"Yes, yes, very well done. I simply have one question: Do you happen to know how to get back?"

"Uh…"

"Because that chase seemed to twist and turn through the desert, and after fighting that sphere, I don't recall how to get back to the highway." Anthony narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "I do hope that you can recall how to get back."

Sapphire and Willow looked at each other and shrugged. "Uh… I'm not sure…"

"Me neither…"

"Ugh… Of course…" He pointed towards the sun, which was still rising but was near the apex. "That way is the east because that's where the sun is rising from, but we still don't know how far we are from the highway, so we'll head in a southeast course until we reach the highway, and continue walking east."

"Nice! That's why we have ya, Ant!"

"Yeah, good job, Anty!"

He simply sighed as they began walking. "I just hope that we don't run into any more distractions."

* * *

**I always make sure that chapters are at least 5,000 words, but even then they usually reach 6,000 or more until I reach what I think is a good stopping point, but today this felt like an alright one. I really want to try and have a Chapter that's solely a journey through the desert, or at least mostly desert, while the rest of the chapter is some shenanigans I have planned in Fourside. **

**But yeah, I hope that was entertaining. I'll admit that I've planned for the Trillionage Sprout to be a short battle, even in this battle/character-focused story, simply for the comedy aspect. And also the fact that other than it's diamondization ability, it would be hard to write a difficult fight against an enemy rooted in place. That pun was unintentional btw.**

**I would have liked to spend more time in reverted Threed simply because it's one of the first times that you really felt like you've made a change in the world around you, with how happy everyone gets and how they all thank you, but story-wise it wouldn't have made much sense, since they're trying to save the world and wouldn't mess around in Threed for any longer.**

**So, the Dusty Dunes Desert is up next boyos. Shenanigans shall be afoot. I've made a few short omake's to make up for the slightly shorter chapter, even though it hit my always intended minimum of 5,000 words. Enjoy.**

* * *

"Waiting for several hours isn't exactly ideal," Anthony murmured.

"But would walking through the desert be any better?"

"Well… technically if we walk at a speedy pace we'd be through in just a few hours… after all, we were driven most of the way already, so we should be fine…"

"Why not run?"

"Oh I'm sorry, do you want to get dehydrated and die from thirst in the middle of a desert? We are not running. We shall be briskly walking."

"Alright, that settles it then." They exited the bus, but not before grabbing their fare from the driver. Immediately, they were hit with a wave of heat so intense they almost thought it was a PSI Fire. Sapphire turned to get back on the bus, but Willow and Anthony grabbed his shoulders and dragged him along behind them.

A day later, they finally exited the desert, hot, tired, and sweaty. "We… we made it…"

"Thank… god…"

Sapphire huffed and turned, blinking and groaning. "Guys… look…"

Anthony and Willow turned, before facepalming. The entirety of the traffic that had held back their bus… it was all gone.

"…who's idea was it to walk through the desert instead of waiting it out?" Willow and Sapphire turned to Anthony.

"…crap." The blond boy began running into the tunnel leading to Threed, with Sapphire and Willow angrily chasing him.

* * *

**And one more.**

* * *

"Alright, that settles it then." They exited the bus, but not before grabbing their fare from the driver. Immediately, they were hit with a wave of heat so intense they almost thought it was a PSI Fire. Sapphire turned to get back on the bus, but Willow and Anthony grabbed his shoulders and dragged him along behind them.

On either side of the road were massive boulders, blocking them from just entering the desert. Before they could backtrack to find an entrance to the desert, Sapphire held up a hand. "Wait a minute—" he turned and looked towards the traffic jam. "Can't we just walk in between the cars?"

His fellow companions fell silent a moment. "…how did I not think of that?"

"Let's get going, Sapphy!" And so, they walked in between the cars, easily reaching Fourside before night fell, because they had common sense.

* * *

**I know that to make you go through the desert you can't just walk in between the cars, but really, you know that if Earthbound was real the Three Chosen would just walk straight in between the cars, lol.**

**But yea. Leave a review on everything you liked, or just a "good job" if you want. Both are always nice to read.**

**See y'all next time!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Dustiest Dunes

**I don't put Author Notes at the top so you can get right to the chapter, but I wanted to let y'all know, if you skip the bottom AN, that I haven't had my laptop for a bit, which is why it took a bit to update. I haven't been able to.**

**I might not have it for a good while after this update either, so it might be a bit till the next chapter. If you haven't, follow so you know when the next chapter comes out. Other than that, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter fifteen: The Dustiest Dunes

"Doriyah!" Sapphire yelled and swung his bat down, crushing a Skelpion underneath it. He swung back as if he was hitting a golf ball and launched another undead halfway across the desert. Or at least, pretty far.

Willow meanwhile summoned PSI Thunder, raining down thunderbolts as the undead scorpions scuttled around. One suddenly charged up with yellow energy and blasted a thunderbolt right back at her. She yelped and jumped to the side, the electricity blasting past her and dissipating harmlessly into the sand. "These meanies can use PSI!"

"Preposterous!"

"Just use your magnet!"

"Oh, yeah! PSI Magnet α!" One of the Skelpion's glowed, energy streaming from it to Willow. A moment later it attempted to attack with Thunder, but it simply sparked as it failed. She jumped forward and swung down, crushing the undead.

"So they _can_ use PSI? How is that possible? If they are undead I would assume they are only being animated by Giygas' influence, they would have no higher brain functions, which I also assume are responsible for being able to use PSI."

"…listen, most of that went over my head, but I'll just assume that yes."

"I asked no yes or no questions in that sentence."

"I completely agree!"

"…god I hope we meet the fourth Chosen soon."

"Wils, five bucks says they're as awesome as we are!"

"I'm not taking that bet, because you'd totally be right!" They high-fived before Sapphire spun away and targeted the last remaining scorpions. "PSI Hope α!" One explosion later, and the battle was over.

"So, how much further do you guys think it is?"

"Much. Your boisterous rampage after that butterfly led you far west, we still have to get back to the point where we entered from before we can make any progress."

"…okay, so we still need to get back to point zero before we can begin making progress?"

"Ugh— Yes."

"Great!" They continued walking, the sun beating down on them. Anthony breathed in as they did, beginning to pant as the sun bore down on them. He grabbed a towel and a water bottle, wetting it and placing it on the back of his neck. He shivered as the water dripped down his neck, but was thankful for the cool feeling it gave him. At the same time, he loosened his blazer, it's tight collar stifling him.

Sapphire just grinned and adjusted his hat. With its bill, he was much less likely to get sunstroke. Nice thinking, game developers!

…

Alright, maybe he _was_ getting sunstroke if he just thought that…

About a few hours later and all three felt like they hadn't made any progress at all. The endless dunes of the desert just kept going into the horizon, and the only things around them were Skelpions or the occasional Smiln' Sphere.

Even their footprints seemed to fade into the distance behind them, giving them no real measure on how far they'd traveled.

Eventually, Sapphire tripped. "OH CR—" he fell face-first into the sand, and slowly got up. "Great. Now I'm covered in sand." As he tried wiping himself off, Willow looked around for what had tripped him.

"Hey, what's that?"

(…why would you feel like talking to a tiny black sesame like me?)

"Oh my god it's a sesame seed," Sapphire blandly stated.

"Out here? In the middle of the desert?"

(I want to apologize to a white sesame seed that I hurt before… if only I could just see her…)

"Well, I could take you to her," Willow smiled.

(Would you? That would be very nice, thank you!) Willow picked up the seed, as Anthony rubbed his forehead.

"Willow, we aren't tracking down a white sesame seed in the middle of an endless desert."

"Why not?"

"Why— because this is the literal equivalent of a needle in a haystack! Sesame seeds are tiny, look at that one!"

"Pictures taken instantaneously!"

"Listen, just because it'll be hard doesn't mean it's impossible."

"I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself!"

"No, it quite literally is impossible! We would have to scour every inch of this desert!"

"Okay, get ready for an instant memory! Look at the camera, ready?"

"I'm sure we can do it!"

"Say Fuzzy Pickles!"

A snap and a flash later, and he was gone.

"…did the photo guy just show up?"

"I think he did."

"Whatever, let's keep moving."

"Hey! I'm not finished arguing with you!"

* * *

Another hour later, and all three were resting against a singular cactus, with Sapphire having used Shield α on them so they wouldn't be pricked.

"God… how big is this desert?"

"We still have much farther to go," Anthony panted, grabbing another towel and wetting it. "This heat is unbearable…"

"Well if you've lived in Winters your whole life it's no wonder you're not used to the heat," Sapphire laughed, before chugging some water. "Mm, c'mon, it's not that bad!"

"You're wearing a hat, you don't get to talk about it not being that bad, meanie!"

"Point taken," he snorted. After resting a few more minutes they got up and got ready to start walking, but not before Sapphire spotted something on the ground. "Hey, what's that?" He bent over, grabbing the items and flicking away sand. "Contact lenses?"

"Good eye, you must have spotted the reflection of the sun."

"I wonder who owns them?"

"I'm just wondering how they got lost in the middle of the desert," Sapphire snorted. "Whatever, hopefully, we can find whoever lost them."

They began walking again, Sapphire fanning himself. "Hey Wils, think you can teach me PSI Fire?"

"Hmm… maybe? Why?"

"I don't know. It just feels right that I should know that move."

"You'd probably spam it."

"Yeah, probably. Spam into back throw I'd say."

"What are you two imbeciles talking about?"

"I really don't know. I think I'm going loopy from the heat."

"Same," Willow nodded. Once again, talk petered off as they focused on walking.

Eventually, Anthony pointed at something in the distance. "An oasis!"

"What?" Sure enough, in the distance was a pool of clear water and several palm trees. They began running over, wasting no time. When they finally reached the oasis, all three jumped into the water with no hesitation, not even Anthony.

Sapphire surfaced and spewed water from his mouth, before taking off his cap and shaking his hair out. "This is great!"

"Finally, a place where the heat is not as unbearable," Anthony sighed.

"Oh, I have an idea! PSI Freeze α!" A moment later, and the oasis was even colder, and all three Chosen let out sighs of relief as they sank into the water.

"Let's rest here," Sapphire murmured.

"Good idea… we don't know how much further we have to travel, so let's wait here until night time. It's much cooler then. It'll be easier to travel…"

"'Kay…"

And so, they quickly set down their stuff by the edges of the oasis and lay down in the water. Time passed quickly for them, the oasis keeping them cool throughout the day until the sun began setting.

The first to wake was Sapphire, but not because he began to naturally wake up, but because he heard an odd noise. Two snuffles, and the sound of something padding through the sand.

Sapphire got up and wiped his eyes, before blinking at what he saw. Across the oasis, two creatures stared at him. They walked on two legs, which held up a yellow and red, rounded body that extended back into a tail, and forward into a long neck with a head atop it. Each creature had a single eye, with a crest atop their head and two small arms.

"…guys?"

"Mm…"

"Not now…"

The creatures snuffled, narrowing their gazes. "I think we have enemies?"

"Wha…?" Willow and Anthony began getting up, before blinking at what they saw. "Cute!"

"Odd. I've never seen creatures like that! Being influenced by Giygas couldn't create such a mutation, so perhaps these creatures are natural? But no reports of such creatures—" apparently getting tired of Anthony's muttering, the creatures roared and stampeded towards them.

"Whoa!" Sapphire grabbed Anthony and rolled to the side, pulling the blond out of the way. Willow scrambled back as well, dodging the charge. "Alright, definitely enemies!"

"O-M-G they're aliens!"

"Never say that again Willow. That's too modern for this time period."

"It would make sense," Anthony hummed. "If these creatures were brought to earth with those Spheres and other creatures, then it would explain why they have never been spotted before."

"Can we stop thinking about how they're aliens, and fight the aliens?" Sapphire waited for the crested creature to charge, before winding up and bashing the monster aside. It crashed through the sand, before scrambling to get up again. It leaped forward, and Sapphire uppercut it with his bat, sending it flying away.

The other charged at Willow, who smacked it aside with her pan. While it was still reeling, she placed her hand against its center of mass and blasted it with ice. "PSI Freeze β!" It began icing up and was thrown back, letting Anthony get a clean shot on its head, killing it.

The first creature that Sapphire had smacked away scrambled to its feet and let out a war cry before Sapphire blasted it with Paralysis. It slowed down, unable to move, letting Anthony get the killing shot.

Sapphire suddenly shook his head, feeling something familiar, as well as a familiar sound.

Clink…

Paralysis Ω…

"Those things weren't very tough, but they were good for… Experience I guess? I guess if we're getting stronger by beating them then they would technically be giving us experience points…"

Willow, meanwhile, had the same experience.

Clink… clink… clink…

Fire β…

Offense Up α…

Magnet Ω…

"Whoa, that was a lot of new moves! I must have been close to unlocking them all after all of those battles with those Skelpions!"

While the PSI sensitives went over their new abilities, Anthony looked up. "Alright, the sun is beginning to set. We should start moving out now, to get as much distance during the night as possible."

"Yeah, right. Oh, wait a minute." Sapphire knelt and pulled out all of their empty water bottles, and refilled them using the oasis. "Alright, let's get going."

* * *

A few hours later, Sapphire tripped again. This time, however, he managed to catch himself by bringing out his bat and stabbing the ground with the end of it.

"Dang I'm clumsy today…"

"Maybe it's the other sesame seed!"

"The chances of us finding the other sesame seed in this vast desert in just a few hours is preposterous, there is such a low chance that—"

(I heard the black sesame seed I used to love is somewhere in this desert… if you see him, please tell him that I still love him.)

"Oh don't worry about that~!" Willow brought out the black sesame seed. "Ta-da!"

(Do you… really mean that?)

(Of course I do!)

"I can't believe this," Anthony stated deadpan.

"I know, isn't love wonderful?" Willow smiled.

"No, that we found two incredibly tiny objects the size of sand particles so easily," Anthony shook his head.

"Yeah, I can't believe it myself," Sapphire shrugged. Now come on, let's get going."

Before they could go anywhere… "pictures taken instantaneously! I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself! Get ready for an instant memory!"

"Really? Can you even see the sesame seeds?"

"Ready? Say, Fuzzy Pickles!" And… he was gone.

"Seriously, he turns up at the most random moments…"

The next event of interest was when the found a sign embedded into the sand an hour later. 'I lost a pair of contact lenses here in the Dusty Dunes Desert. They were a memento from my grandmother, and very important to me. If you find them, bring them to me, and I'll reward you! I'm Pentella Giovanni. Find me at the Fourside Bakery, second floor.'

"Huh. Well, glad we already found them."

"Yeah! Now we just gotta bring them over to the lady!"

"We should keep moving then. I wonder what the reward is?"

"Ant, it ain't about the reward, it's about doing what's right!"

"…and the reward?"

"And the reward, yes."

Another few hours later, they happened upon a shack. Outside the shack was a massive hole with an opening into the underground, and a large digging machine with a man sitting on one of the treads.

As they walked up, the man noticed them and grinned. "This hole's great! Good hole, good hole, good hole!"

"Well, he seems to have lost his marbles."

"Hush, Ant."

"First, someone asked me to dig for buried gold! I began to feel like I was obligated to find it! Man, am I starving! Ya got any food you can share?"

"Well, that was a jump in topics."

Willow giggled, before grabbing one of the last remaining sandwiches from Threed. "Here ya go, mister!"

"Thank ya! If I ever find the gold, I'll give it ta you!"

"What? Just because we have you— ack!"

Sapphire quickly elbowed the blond. "Thanks, mister! See you later!"

"See ya! Gosh, maybe after eating I can beat those monsters!"

"Monsters?" Sapphire questioned.

"Yep! I feel like I was close to getting the gold, but then all these monsters started showing up, lead by these five big moles! Just thinking of all this is giving me a bleedin' ulcer…"

"We can take care of it," Sapphire shrugged. "But could we rest in your cabin?"

"In exchange for killing some monsters?! Of course!"

"Nice! Come on guys, let's rest up before taking on the cave."

"Sounds fun!"

"I suppose doing this is worth it if we get valuable minerals in exchange…"

They entered the cabin and found several bunk beds, with a man sitting at a desk with a phone. "Howdy, your friend outside said we can rest here if we clear out the cavern?"

"Yeah? Sounds fine to me. Take your pick of any of the beds."

Anthony jumped into one of the beds, burying his face in a pillow, while Sapphire and Willow walked over to the phone. "You're using the phone too? Want to use it first?"

"Oh, well you've been calling your family a few times now, I figured I should do the same. And you can use it first, don't worry!"

"Alrighty-o." He dialed the number for his dad and waited for him to pick up. "Oh, what color is the sun?"

"Color? It's—"

There was finally a click, and he grinned as he asked, "Yellow?"

While Willow giggled, he heard his dad ask, "Howdy? Sapphire?"

"Yo, dad!" Sapphire once again began detailing their adventure so far, plus having to trudge through the desert and fighting dozens of enemies in the stifling heat.

"Sounds horrible, I know how much we both hate the heat!"

"Yeah, at least I'm handling it better than Ant, he isn't used to the heat at all!" He laughed.

"Plus, I'm betting your gramps' cap helps with the sunstroke?"

"Yep! Although it's still pretty bad."

"Ha! Alright, I've written everything down. Call your mom and Tracey, say hi!"

"Got it! See ya pops!" When he hung up, he quickly dialed the number for his house. After it was picked up, he grinned. "Yo, guess who?"

"Is it a guy who's finally got a girlfriend?" Sapphire slammed the phone down as Willow tried to hide her laughter and he dialed again.

This time, his mother picked up. "Hello? Your sister was cackling next to the phone for some reason."

"Yeah, don't bother putting her on the phone when we're done."

"Oh dear," he could hear her smile. "Anyway, how have you been, honey?"

"Eh, I'm busy in the desert right now. It's pretty hot out."

"I can imagine! Well, stay safe honey! And tell your girlfr—"

"We aren't dating!" He screeched before he once again slammed the phone down. "Well, I'm done with my family for the day," he said blandly.

"Aw, but your family is so nice!" Willow giggled.

"Don't," he said, pointing at her. Although he couldn't stop the grin that slipped onto his face. "I'm going to get some rest."

"Alright, my turn!" He wandered away as she began dialing her home. He collapsed into a bed, almost immediately drifting off into sleep.

"Hey, mom! Yeah, I'm with Anthony and my boyfriend." But not before groaning into a pillow.

* * *

Sapphire poked his head through the opening into the caverns, before walking inside, Anthony and Willow right behind him. "Ready?"

"Heck yeah!"

"Indeed."

"Then let's go!" They wandered inside, eyes open for the first enemy they would encounter. The cave continued in a straight line, a few wheelbarrows here and there, with piles of dirt in them.

The path split at one point, a small alcove to the left with nothing in it, and a path continuing towards the right. Following the right path, and they walked for a while, up until they heard slithering noises.

Up ahead, two snakes began crawling across the rocky floor, making their way towards the group.

"Stay away from them," Anthony warned, "See how the sides of their heads bulge out? That means they have venom packs."

"Ranged it is," Sapphire grinned. He took out his rarely used slingshot, making a hole in one of the snakes' heads. Anthony took care of the other, his gun making a much cleaner hole. "I should use this more often."

"Why risk missing when you can beat up the meanies?"

"You've got a point."

"I'll stick to ranged weaponry, like any sane person when fighting monsters."

"You mean like any COWARD! HA!" Sapphire high-fived Willow.

"Nice!"

"You are literal children."

"Hey, you're thirteen too. You're allowed to act childish you know."

"Hm."

They continued, eventually finding a ladder that they climbed down. Well, a normal person would. Sapphire jumped down, landing in a crouch. "Nothing's down here! Come on down!"

The next thing he knew, he was thrown to the floor as Willow landed on him. "Sorry!"

"My back…" Willow got off him, just income for Anthony to step on him as he got off the ladder.

"Oops," He blandly said.

"My back… again…"

"You've taken worse hits, get up."

"Let a man groan in peace, dude," Sapphire snarked. The cave continued to the left, so they began following the hollowed-out pathway and continued moving. Eventually, they reached a fork in the road, the path ahead of them leading to a ladder, while the path to the right opened into a dark room.

Sapphire lit up a Flash α and waved his hand around to shine the light around the area, just in time as a large, greenish-blue mole jumped at them and clawed at Sapphire. "Oh crap! Shield α!" His arm glimmered as the shield took hold and sparked as the mole's claws deflected off of it.

The mole laughed as it landed, wiggling its claws. "I'm one of the masters of this hole. There are five masters in all, all of us moles! I believe I am the… third strongest amongst us! So take your best shot!"

"Just like that digger guy said, five big moles," Sapphire spoke.

"And he is the third strongest. I suppose this should give us an estimate on what the abilities, strengths, and weaknesses of the other moles will be."

"We fought a mole like this one before, all the way back in Happy-Happy, remember Sapphy?"

"Yeah. We're much stronger now though, so even if these are tougher too, they shouldn't be too bad!"

The mole seemed to have grown tired of doing nothing and launched forward to try clawing at him again. He crossed his arms and blocked, before kicking the mole back. As it scrambled to its feet and attempted to attack again, it was quickly frozen in place as Willow launched a Freeze β.

The ice began cracking as the mole attempted to force its way out, but just as one paw managed to break out Sapphire cane along and _smashed _the mole to pieces. The shards of ice and flesh scattered across the floor and Sapphire tapped his bat against his shoulder. "And that's that!"

"That was simple. How difficult was the previous mole from Happy-Happy?"

"Well, I almost died, so that was fun."

"I got to shock Sapphy!"

"That does sound enjoyable."

"Oi!" Sapphire scoffed and looked deeper into the room and saw a small present. "Okay, a present in that Brick Road guy's maze, understandable. In the cave near Saturn Valley? A little bit less sense, but maybe a Saturn wandered out and placed the present down. Here? No sense."

"I'm just accepting it at this point." Anthony opened the present and held up another IQ Capsule.

"Oh, oh, let me have it!"

Anthony just stared Willow in the eyes before tossing the pill into his mouth and swallowing. "No."

Sapphire let out a 'snrk' sound, watching as Willow pouted at the other blond of the group. "C-c'mon, let's keep going."

"Saaaapphy! Anty is being mean!"

"He's not being mean, I mean, last time you were the one who ate the pill before anyone could say anything."

"Sapphy, you're supposed to be on my side!"

"I concur, Sapphire, you should be on your girlfriend's side."

"I could bring this whole cavern down if I wanted to. A single Hope β. Don't tempt me."

As they bickered they continued through the caverns, eventually coming across another ladder that they climbed. At the top of the ladder were four corridors, all leading in different directions.

"Would this be another maze? Please don't let it be so…"

"What, don't like mazes, Ant?"

"No. They are inane. Why would you want to deceive whoever is coming through an area? Do you know how easily you can get lo— where is Willow."

"What?"

"Where is Willow?"

"She's right— oh crap." Sapphire turned and saw the retreating form of Willow as she explored the caverns, looking around curiously. "Oi! Wils! Wait for us!"

They caught up with her easily, since she was walking at a sedate pace. "There you guys are! I thought you would stand there all day! Cmon, let's explore the maze!"

"How about we take our time with this?!" Sapphire groaned, looking around. Luckily, there hadn't been any side passages yet, so they couldn't have gotten lost, but still.

"Here," Anthony sighed. He turned a knob on his gun, and when he fired into a cave wall it was a continuous beam. "I'll mark where we've already been, and which direction we were going."

"Good idea."

"Wow! That's smart!"

"Yes, yes, someone has to be the brains of the group."

"Oi, you may be the brains, but you're not the one that comes up with the plans! I'm the one that does that."

"Really? I've told you many a time what an opponent can do and what they should be vulnerable to."

"But that ain't planning, I'm the one who calls out orders in battle! You may be smart, but you don't have street smarts or battle sense like I do!"

"You shout out the most obvious things. Such as target that enemy! Or, back up!"

"Yeah, well if it's so obvious why don't you do it?" Sapphire grinned, leaning in. "I keep an eye out on the whole battlefield, you simply keep your eyes on your target."

"Pardon me, but perhaps that is simply because I believe you and the pink one can take care of yourselves, and don't need me interrupting your thoughts."

"The pink one? Did you finally give in to the insanity and give us nicknames?"

"Of course not, it's simply a description of her wear. Look at— she's gone."

"Wha— again?! Willow!"

"Over here!"

"God— come on."

"One moment." He carved an arrow into a wall as they turned a corner. "Let us move."

They finally caught up, to see Willow looking into a room. "There you are!"

"Oh, hey guys! I found another mole!"

"Really? Wow, that's grea… wait, did you kill it?"

"Nope!" The monster suddenly jumped out of the room at Willow, who jumped to the side. "I wanted you guys to have fun too!"

"…Alright. Maybe I _should _have given her the IQ Capsule."

"I don't want to be mean but… yeah, no, you should have."

"Are you talking amongst yourselves in front of a vicious monster like me?! I'll have you know that I am—" The mole was quickly frozen before it could say anything else.

"PSI Freeze β!"

Sapphire capitalized on his opponent's weakness, spinning his bat before swinging it down, crushing the mole's frozen head against the ground. It shattered and sent shards of ice flying just as the first mole had. "And that's that. You know, it seemed just as tough as he first mole… or at least, it went down just as easily."

"Perhaps it was simply a weaker one. Or, that strategy works well on all of the moles."

"Eh, maybe."

"Come on, let's keep exploring!" Inside the room that the mole had hidden in, was a spray can that Anthony quickly examined.

"Defense Spray. It'll replace the one I used earlier," he murmured, before putting it in his bag. Looking up, he saw the two other members of the team already wandering off. "Of course… wait for me!"

Continuing through the maze of tunnels was annoying, with how many dead ends they met, and how many ladders they had to ascend and descend. It didn't help that even in the underground tunnels it was hot, and they could get heatstroke with how much they were exerting themselves.

The third mole they came across pounced on Anthony to begin the battle, but the genius had managed to spray himself with defense spray the moment he thought they were getting close to the beast's lair just in case.

The claws scraped off his hardened skin as he fell back in shock, scrambling for his weapon before Sapphire grasped his blazer and pulled him back. "Get ready! All-Out Attack!"

"Pardon?!"

Sapphire finished pulling back his blond compatriot and used the momentum to spin and _smash _his bat into the Guardian Digger's stomach, bending the creature over and causing it to gasp for breath.

Willow attacked almost simultaneously, letting out a cheer as she uppercut the mole with her pan and sending it stumbling back, before finishing it off with a yell of, "PSI Ice Beam β!" and a stream of cold air.

As the monster stumbled back and slowly froze over, Anthony sighed. "Screw it." He charged forward and yelled, grasping the barrel of his rifle to bash the creature's legs and crack the ice on them, before rolling behind it and blasting it with his gun.

It roared in anger at being thrown around, reaching up to swipe at the gunslinger. "You dare?! I am the third-st—" Sapphire quickly cut it off, jumping on it and bashing its head in, causing it to wobble before he sent a Hope pulsing through his arm and into the mole's body. It began convulsing as energy pulsed through it and he quickly jumped off.

He landed in a crouch, one hand on the ground and one on his bat which he used to hold himself up before he slowly rose until he was standing. He half-smirked and half-grinned, bringing his bat up to rest on his shoulder, before adjusting his hat, letting the Guardian Digger crash to the ground with blood spurting from several wounds before the Hope detonated and its body erupted as he posed. "It's all over!"

"…that was needlessly theatrical."

"But it was awesome!"

"Yeah!"

"…I will admit, it was quite exciting."

"Ooh! Ooh! I want to pose after the next one!"

"Let's just keep going." Digging through the room eventually revealed a Guts Capsule, that Anthony turned over in his hands. "Guts? What does that even mean?"

"It means how tough you are! Duh!"

"Yes, I know what the meaning of 'Guts' is, but what does the pill do? Perhaps make you stronger?"

"I guess. So should I take it, since I'm usually the guy who gets close up while Willow uses PSI and you use your gun, or one of you since neither of you are as tough as me?"

"You're the tank, you should eat it!"

"While either of us being tougher would be good, you're the most likely candidate to be hurt with your close-up fighting style." He tossed over the capsule, which Sapphire caught and threw back into his mouth.

"Alright," He took a swig of water, before shaking his head. "Let's keep going."

Down several more hallways and past some more twists, plus a ladder here and there, they finally reached the fourth Digger.

"So, you think you can challenge me? I'll have you know that I am the third-"

"Launching Bottle Rocket."

The rocket exploded against the monster's face, sending it stumbling back before it could finish its sentence. Sapphire rushed forward and slammed his bat against its short legs, causing it to crash down onto its back. Sapphire rolled away as it scrambled to get back up, and Willow capitalized on its vulnerability by blasting it with a high powered Freeze.

It snarled, scrambling to gouge at the girl of the group before Anthony blasted it in the head. It slammed into a wall and held its head, roaring in anger. A stalactite on the ceiling cracked as the weight of the mole rumbled through the cave, which Anthony quickly knocked down with a blast from his gun.

The spike of stone impaled the mole, killing it instantly. "Now that's called using your head!"

"I thought that was called using your surroundings?"

"Same difference."

"No, no it is not."

After arguing over the difference in the phrases, and looting what looked to be some kind of caramel candy from the room, they were back to backtracking.

At one point Willow found a Teddy Bear lying against the cave wall and squealed with excitement as she picked it up. "A new Mr. Teddy!"

Sapphire grinned and helped her out the bear into her bag, "just make sure he doesn't get wrecked as quickly as the last one, yeah?"

"What are you two talking about?"

"Oh, using our telekinesis we can move the bear around to take hits for us. Since Willow doesn't seem to be able to move living things like I can, this is the most she can do with her telekinesis."

"But… it's a plush bear, it'll get torn apart near instantly!"

"Yeah, well no one said it _wouldn't_."

Some other things they found wandering around were a croissant and picnic lunch, along with a room of small mice. Sapphire and Anthony grasped their weapons just in case, while Willow bent over and began petting the small animals. "Hey, little cuties!"

(Hello miss. Are you exploring these tunnels for fun?)

"Nope! We're taking out those meanie Guardian Diggers!"

(I see… those Diggers are dangerous to many of the peaceful animals residing here. For your bravery, please take one of my sons along. They may look like regular, small mice, but any of them can lead you to an exit if you're lost in the maze.)

"Wow! Thanks, mister mouse!" She picked up one of the Exit Mice and placed him in Sapphire's bag, all while the black-haired boy glared at her.

"You've betrayed my trust."

"You'll get over it!" She giggled. He just grimaced and tried to lean away from his backpack, while Anthony stayed as far from him as he could.

Eventually, they reached another dead end, with the sound of another Digger echoing from inside the room. "Alright guys, this might be the strongest of the Diggers, so be ready…"

"What if it's the weakest?"

"Then all the prep we're going to do will be just precautionary, duh. Shield α, times three!" The glowing psychokinetic Shield covered them all, while Sapphire felt a clunk in his head. "Wait… Shield β! Times three!" The Shield flowed and visibly grew stronger. "Nice!"

"My turn! PSI Shield α! Times three!" Three pulses of energy and a counter shield flowed across their body. Sapphire's to reflect physical attacks, Willow's to defend against PSI. "Now— Offense Up α! Times three!" They all glowed red, their physical strength growing temporarily from Willow's PSI ability.

Anthony rattled the Defense Spray, blasting it over them. Afterward, he rattled the can once more before putting it back in his bag. "Should have enough for a few more uses."

"All right… once we're inside, go all out!"

"Roger dodger!"

"I understand."

Sapphire ran into the room first, energy crackling around him. The mole turned to them, sharpening its claws. "Well well… Do you wish to challenge me? The Th—"

"PSI Hope β!"

"PSI Crackling FrostBurn β!"

"Overcharged blast, five-hundred percent!"

Three different attacks impacted with the mole at once, and completely decimated the back of the room. Sapphire's Hope blew apart stone and metal, tearing up the monster's flesh as well. Willow's triple attack blasted the monster with lightning bolts and left it stunned, before completely melting its flesh and the rock around it with bright flames, until the ice reached it and it began freezing over. It was finished off by the blast from Anthony's gun, the overcharged blast sending a beam of energy straight through the frozen form of the mole, creating a hole about a foot in diameter that sent cracks through its body before it shattered, icy pieces falling to the floor.

"…well that was anti-climactic."

"Yeah! And I made up a whole new move just for it! Although maybe I should take a rest, that was super tiring…"

"Well, at least I know that attack will disable my gun for a minute after I use it… might have to find a new battery…"

Scrounging around the room, they only found a small bracelet made of platinum and another capsule, this one with luck written on it. "Wha— luck? How do you increase a concept?"

"What, don't believe luck is real?"

"Not really. Maybe a bit, but I don't believe that luck dictates fate, or that anyone has a fate. The only reason I can believe in this destiny that we're supposed to defeat Giygas is that some fly from the future told you about it, meaning he had hindsight."

"Eh, like I said, he was more of a rhinoceros beetle…"

"Hm. Besides that, if we don't beat Giygas, then we'll die. So I believe it because we have to."

"Well that's depressing," Sapphire snorted. "Come on then, let's get out of here."

The trek out was much easier, with the Exit Mouse bringing them straight to the ladder that led to the large hole outside. "Thanks, Mousie!" It squeaked in reply, before scurrying back into the dark.

Anthony sighed and began drinking from a water bottle. "Ugh, it was hot down there, at least it's still night up here…"

"Come on, let's go tell the guy what happened then head on to Fourside."

As they climbed out of the hole, they heard a familiar voice. "Photos taken instantaneously! I'm a photographic genius if I do say so myself!"

"Dude, we're in a desert. Just get it over with."

"Alright, alright! Say… Fuzzy Pickles!" A snap and a flash and once more, the man was gone. Sapphire grumbled and the group made their way to the large digger machine, and the man sitting on it.

"Hey, we got rid of the monsters."

"Really? Good job! Alright, from here on I won't stop digging! I'll find the buried gold, don't you worry! But before I start, I better set a careful plan of action…"

"That's wise," Anthony nodded.

"Well, we're heading to Fourside now. See ya, dig guy." They waved at the man, before heading east again.

Willow looked up, noting how the sun was rising at this point, as they had spent the latter half of the night underground. "Should we rest until night again?"

"No, we're nearing the edge of the desert I believe. It should be a short trek. Well, relatively short, compared to the one yesterday."

Sure enough, after a walk that only took about an hour and a half, they stumbled out onto the highway, in front of a large tunnel to Fourside. "Oh thank god."

"Seriously."

"Well… would you look at that." They turned around to see an empty highway. "The traffic cleared up while we were frolicking around in the desert."

Sapphire groaned. "Oh of course it did…"

"Hey, you're the one that chased after that butterfly. If you hadn't done that, we might have gotten here before that traffic cleared up."

"Hey, there's no way of knowing that!"

"C'mon, stop fighting! I'm excited to see the city!" Willow giggled and skipped into the tunnel, while Anthony sighed.

"She's right, we should get moving." He followed her, wiping sweat from his brow.

Sapphire nodded but didn't move. On the other side of this tunnel was Fourside…

Visions flashed in front of his eyes.

No, he wouldn't let that happen. He knew… something would take Willow, but if he knew, then he could change it, right? These… premonitions, it's not like they were set in stone, right? They were something to take advantage of, to use to help people, to protect people! They weren't just… an undeniable fate.

**You can't. **

**You won't be able to change anything.**

**Her fate has been sealed, and you don't hold the key to her cell…**

Sapphire winced. Did… he just hear something? No, it was just his imagination. He could change it. He would change fate. It wasn't an unbending destiny she was bound to.

**You**

**Will**

**Fail**

Or… were they all prisoners to their fates?

* * *

**Wow, Dusty Dunes is so slooooow. So, I tried to make all the side quests happen all at once to get it over with in a single chapter, for my own sake and yours. **

**So, I made the Guardian Digger quest happen earlier, so I didn't have to write the team entering then exiting then entering then exiting Fourside and blah blah blah. Probably one of the more annoying parts of the game. But I'll be writing around that little change to make everything smoother, hopefully.**

**Now, I'm best at writing battles, and alright at writing characters and everything else, but I think you readers can tell that even I got worn out by the Guardian Diggers. It's the same fight over and over again with small battles to slow you down here and there, plus the maze if you don't have a map.**

**Honestly, just getting it done with quickly seemed for the best, plus removing the small battles in between. I hope the little joke of them not knowing that every single mole was the same and none were stronger than the others was good. It seemed like a fun idea to alleviate the boredom of writing the same thing five times. **

**Other than that, having the characters break the fourth wall while delirious from heat and sunstroke was fun, since they're all going crazy and won't think about it. **

**Oh, and PSI. It makes sense to have limited moves in the game so your characters don't get too overpowered too quickly, even though that's what usually happens. After all, it's usually the beginning of the game that's hardest. But for my story characters will experiment with their abilities. If you have psychic abilities, one of the first things you'd do is see what your limit is, and then push it. It's only natural for these characters to do the same.**

**By the by, I put in two Easter eggs, one **_**much **_**more obvious than the other. Mostly because I got a new game and am loving it, so I wanted to put a little Easter egg for it, but also because it gave me an idea for a crossover that would also be this story's sequel. So while the first was a more awesome fan-service-y one, the other is a bit more tied to some themes I'd be messing around with in the sequel.**

**So yeah, tell me what you think of that, plus everything you liked about the chapter in a review if you'd like. Or just a "nice chapter." Both are fun to read. Follow to know when the next chapter comes out since I won't haven't had, and won't have, my laptop for a while, so I won't be able to publish new chapters when I'm finished. Honestly, I finished this one a while ago and just couldn't publish till now.**

**But yeah. See y'all next time.**


	16. Chapter 16: Fourside

**My favorite fanfiction writer, who was presumed dead, sent me this:**

**Phoenixclaw2128: I lived, bitch.**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Fourside

"Holy crap…" Sapphire gawked at the sight of the city across the bridge. The tunnel itself was astonishingly long, it actually took a bit more time to get through it than it took the group to get from the shack in the desert back to the highway, but at least the length of it meant they were no longer near the desert, and it was nowhere near as hot, since the tunnel curved so it was heading a more north-easterly direction instead of just east, away from the equator.

At the end of the tunnel, the road extended for a bit before becoming a bridge over a crystal clear river that reflected the bright blue sky. And across the bridge was the largest city he'd ever seen.

Threed, of course, was a city. But Sapphire would get mixed up with calling it a city or a town sometimes because of how short the buildings were, even if the size of the city itself was larger than Onett or Twoson. But Fourside… both in the size and scale of the city and the buildings themselves, it was truly a city.

"Wow…" Willow gushed, clasping her hands together with sparkling eyes.

Anthony chuckled, adjusting his glasses."We saw it on the flight over, but the Skyrunner was so high that it took away the awe factor… it's a truly massive place."

"We might spend days looking for the next Sanctuary if it's even in Fourside."

Remembering the rainy pond vision, Sapphire hummed. "I think the next Sanctuary might be in Winters… we just need to find a way there."

"Perhaps a boat, if we continue towards the coastline?"

"We should still check around the city anyway!" Willow smiled. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

Sapphire frowned. "No, we should get in and out. No spending any more unnecessary time than we need to." The city looked huge yes… but the wonder would _not _make him less cautious. It made him more so. He didn't know where _exactly _the event would take place, so he'd have to be on guard at all times.

"Aw, really?"

"He's probably right," Anthony nodded. "We're saving the world, there isn't much time for fun and games when we're not resting. However— remember what Belch said? The Mani-Mani Statue is in Fourside. And from you've both told me it can do some horrible things."

"Yeah, I guess so…" Willow murmured.

"Fourside is too big," Sapphire quickly denied. "We would never find it. We should focus on getting to the next Sanctuary, and _maybe _we can come back of evidence that the Mani-Mani is still here."

Anthony looked at him confused. "Why would Belch lie about the Mani-Mani being in Fourside?"

"To… to throw us off track. They know we're looking for Sanctuaries, so slowing us down by searching a whole city for a single statue would make sense."

"I… suppose that is a reasonable explanation…"

"Yeah, so let's get in and out as quickly as we can."

As the group attempted to cross the bridge, they heard the sound of a vehicle behind them. "Hey, Sapphire!" They turned and saw the digger machine from the dig site driving up. "I'm George, Gerardo Montague's brother."

"Oh, hey."

"Gerardo is in his mine, but he hasn't found any buried treasure yet. We did, however, find a diamond! Here ya go!" The man tossed over a crystal clear, literally, diamond. It was large as well, easily the size of Sapphire's face.

"W—Whoa…"

"For real?" Willow gasped.

"Astonishing…"

"All right, see ya!" As he drove away, the team continued looking at the diamond.

"So… I'm putting this in my bag…" Sapphire blinked and slowly put it away, shaking his head.

They continued down the bridge, which led into a much smaller tunnel that exited out into the outskirts of the city. Being much closer now, all of the buildings seemed even more enormous with the group having to crane their necks back.

"Makes you feel like an ant, huh," Willow giggled.

"It most definitely makes me feel small."

Sapphire said nothing. Before they began moving again, Sapphire grasped Willow's hand. She looked at him confused, and he looked away with a blush. "Willow… stay close, please."

"…" she tilted her head, seeming to notice something was wrong. So instead of teasing him, she just smiled and stepped closer, intertwining their fingers. "Okay."

Anthony just snorted and looked away with a smirk, coughing something into his hand. "…atein…"

"What was that?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Come, let's move." Sapphire suddenly grasped his hand too and shook his head.

"We should make sure that we aren't separated… this place is bigger than all of our homes after all…"

Anthony paused. "Yes, you'd be right about that. All right, lead the way, then."

They walked down the paved road towards the city, passing by a bus stop on the outskirts. "I guess that's where we would have gotten off then."

"Yeah…" Willow said, clearly not listening with how awestruck she was by the buildings up close. "This place is amazing!"

"Yes, Fourside is quite the city," a man in a business suit chuckled from nearby. "It's developed quite a bit since Mr. Geldegarde Monotoli hit the big time. It's been good for this city!"

"We can see that," Anthony nodded in agreement. "Oh, pardon, but would you happen to know where the nearest hotel is?"

"Sure, just head down that block, and it'll be on your right!"

"My thanks."

"I thought we were leaving as fast as we could?!" Sapphire whispered.

"Sapphire, we just trekked through an enormous desert, we need to rest. One night won't kill us."

The boy sighed and nodded. "Alright… okay." They continued walking, following the man's instructions until they managed to find the building. The inside looked similar to most of the other hotels that Sapphire had stayed at over the journey, and Sapphire withdrew some money from an atm since he figured the big city would have more expensive prices.

The man at the front desk looked up when he approached and seemed to have a hint of disdain in his eyes and voice when he saw how young they were and how dirty their clothing was. "Welcome to the Monotoli Grand Hotel. A day and night stay shall cost you two-hundred and twenty-five dollars… do you have the money?"

Sapphire just handed over the bills, trying not to think about how expensive it was. "Come on guys. Let's go."

The inside of their room looked fancier, but none of them cared, each fighting to get inside the shower first. Sappier eventually managed to get in by using telekinesis to push them both back before slamming the door shut and locking it.

One shower later and he was in his pajamas and bed. Of course, he couldn't get to sleep with the ruckus his teammates were causing, both of them trying to get into the bathroom first.

But at least the noise meant they were there… safe. The quicker they got out of this city, the better. With that thought, Sapphire finally drifted off.

"Wake up!" Sapphire sputtered as cold water was suddenly thrown on him, and heard the sound of Willow giggling.

"Wha— I just fell asleep!"

"Nope! It's tomorrow! We were all so tired we slept through the day and the night!"

"Really? Wow…" the black-haired boy stretched as he sat up, feeling several cracks along his body. As he looked around, he noticed a distinct lack of genius. "Hey, where's Ant?"

"Oh, Anty went out to get us breakfast earlier—"

"WHAT?!" Sapphire jumped up, tripping over the bedsheets. "I thought we were all supposed to stay together!"

"Yeah, me and Anty went together while you kept sleeping, don't worry." She pointed to the table in the room which had several different boxes and cups. "Fourside has weird food and stuff here, so we just got a bit of everything. Plus coffee, because I've never had any besides that weird Saturn Valley kind! And I heard it helps wake you up! Want to try some?"

"Wha— but where's Ant right now?!"

"Oh, he's investigating something. He wanted to find out more about this Monotoli guy."

"And he couldn't have just waited for me to wake up?"

The girl shrugged, grabbing a cup of coffee. "I dunno. Here, try some!"

* * *

Anthony hummed as he adjusted his glasses. The opinions of this Monotoli fellow were certainly skewed. Most of the people around the city loved him, but there was a small percentage of people that hated him or were distrustful, citing incidents where they had been wronged by the man.

The different accounts were astonishing, those who praised the man talked as if he were a gift from God, while others spoke as if he were the devil, even giving accounts that the police were in his pocket. It wasn't weird for there to be a difference like that, but it was a _massive _difference. So many more people liked him than those that didn't.

This would require some more investigation, but Sapphire seemed almost fanatic with how he didn't wish to stay in the city. Something was wrong, and as his friend and resident genius, he needed to find out what. Oh well, even if he didn't, that Arms Dealer he'd found had an interesting gadget he could try and fix up…

"Hey! Hey hey hey!" Anthony looked over towards the shouting and saw some guy in a suit shouting. "You there! You're new to Fourside aren't you?!"

The blond did a double-take, "Pardon, but are you talking to me?"

"Yeah, you!"

"Uh… well yes, I suppose."

"Then you haven't heard about the glory of Monotoli!"

Anthony blinked. This man was very odd. And annoying. Better to just calm him down and walk away. "Of course I've heard of him. Now, I'll just be on my way…"

"No no no! You're lying, aren't you! C'mon c'mon c'mon!" Anthony frowned as the man closed in, grasping his shoulders and shaking him.

"Sir, please back away."

"No no no! You have to know about Monotoli's greatness!" The reveler almost seemed to foam at the mouth, and his eyes widened to an insane degree.

Actually… the closer Anthony looked, the more something seemed off. His eyes were dilated, unfocused. And there _was_ some foam leaking from the corners of his mouth. And the man's irises, what small amount was visible, there was a glow to them…

A dim one, purple? Or perhaps a dark blue… and of course, Anthony recalled a hypothesis he'd had. The landscape around Threed had been blue when it was corrupted, and some creatures influenced by Giygas seemed to have a blue glow to them. Besides that, there was Happy-Happy village, which Sapphire and Willow had informed him about, a whole village made to worship blue. Whatever Giygas turned… all would glow blue, turn blue, something similar.

The boy slowly reached back for his weapon, while the crazed man continued staring at him. He had grown silent, as well as tense. They were both waiting for a signal.

That signal came when a wrench fell from his pack as he grasped his gun. It hit the ground with a clank, sending the reveler screaming forward as he swung a fist at him. Anthony ducked to the side, scrambling away from the man as he raised his rifle, aiming down the sight.

He growled and lowered his gun, realizing that firing it would either hurt the man beyond repair or kill him. Lasers were dangerous, after all. He reversed his grip on his gun and when the lunatic attacked him again he bashed the man in the face.

The reveler screeched as he fell back, before scrambling to attack again. Anthony scowled and jumped back to dodge before preparing to strike again. The man tried to tackle him, and he dodged by ducking beneath the man's legs, before smacking him on the back of the head.

"Agh!" The man fell to his knees and clutched his head, before turning and slamming a fist into Anthony's stomach. He gasped for breath and fell back, clutching his stomach.

He kicked at the ground to scoot away, before reaching into his bag. The reveler tried to jump at him again before Anthony managed to pull out his taser from his bag and blast the man directly in the chest. Arcs of electricity jumped from the man as he spasmed, before falling face-first into the ground.

Anthony watched him for a moment to make sure he was out, before sighing and putting away his weapons. If that wasn't proof that something was wrong in Fourside then nothing was. Humans had stronger minds than animals, and plants didn't even have minds. To begin turning people like this, Giygas would need to have something to help him, and that was the Mani-Mani Statue.

Anthony made his way back to the hotel, climbing the stairs to the second floor and opening the door. The first thing he saw was that all of the coffee cups were empty and on the floor. The second thing was Willow, who had frozen herself to the wall near the ceiling. "…why."

"Sapphire drank all the coffee."

"All?"

"All."

"Most of that was supposed to be saved for later."

"Yeah."

"…where is he?"

Sapphire suddenly shot out of the bathroom on all fours, speaking in a deranged voice, coffee dribbling from his chin while his eyes were opened wider than they should have been. "I̶̭̅̃̇̌́͐̽̈́ ̴̡͖̯͖̀͛s̷̗͔̣͉͍͍̀̆̃͛̋ͅM̸̠̻̲͚̫̜̤̉̌̎̍͋̊̔͜e̴̙̼̱͊͒̀̀̄̉̈́͘L̴̒̑͗̏̂ͅL̷̞̰̙̙̎̎͛ ̷̢͍͚͇̥̜͆̒P̴̢̡͔͚͕͓͐̈͒̆̍͂̎͆é̸̞͊͋͘͜N̷̨̠̥̥̤͐n̵̠͖̤̯̘̤͗̔͆͝Í̴͈̚͝Ë̷̜̻̻̺̙̔̈́́͊͊͝s̵̭̈̐͆͘!̵̡̲̫̱͙̭̘̌̍̅"

Anthony shrieked.

* * *

Sapphire groaned as he shook his head. "You really shouldn't have drunk all of that coffee," Anthony sighed. "You're hyper enough without caffeine."

"Bold words for the guy who was shrieking in terror when the caffeine monster charged at him," Willow giggled.

"You were the one who used cryokinesis to glue yourself to the wall!"

"Can we not with the shouting…" Sapphire sighed, covering his ears. "My headache is bad enough as it is…"

Anthony just adjusted his glasses again. "In any case, let's get back to giving these contacts to that woman, then investigate Monotoli."

"We're doing that why?"

"He's evil!" Willow cheered, wiggling her fingers.

"She's technically correct. That reveler was obsessed with Monotoli, and from what I've heard, everyone who hates him has a legitimate reason. Some police officers even knew my name and told me to watch what I did."

"And of course, the only way Monotoli could know our names…"

"…Is if he was corrupted, correct."

"So, it's here then."

"Yes. And if I had to guess, it'd be where Monotoli could keep an eye on it."

"So… in his building?" Willow guessed.

"Most likely."

"We can't exactly infiltrate a large building like that, we aren't professional thieves or ninjas."

"Says you!"

"Willow, you're not a ninja."

"Party pooper. Oh, speaking of party, I heard that the Runaway Five are here!"

"They did say something about the big city if I remember right…"

"We should go see them!"

"What part of getting in and out of Fourside as quick as possible do you not get?" Sapphire asked forcefully. Willow blinked, and he looked away. "We don't have—"

"Somethings wrong."

"No, it's fine."

"Don't take me or Willow for idiots, Sapphire. You're acting differently."

"…"

"It's not the Mani-Mani Statue, you weren't afraid of it before," Willow said quietly. "You're not scared of getting lost in the city, because you have those maps that show the layout of every town and city in Eagleland. So it's something else."

"You aren't scared of any enemies we might encounter since you usually run headfirst into a battle excited," Anthony continued. "But there's nothing else you could be afraid of. At least, nothing I can figure out. So will you tell us or not?"

"I'm fine."

"Dammit, you're not! You're not fine at all!" Sapphire recoiled as Willow stomped in front of him, trying to look intimidating. Of course, she wasn't, but the uncharacteristic swear certainly startled him. "Please, stop lying and just tell us!"

"I… I can't. Because… what I'm scared of, it won't happen. I won't let it happen."

"What…" Anthony's eyes widened. "A premonition. Of course. You saw something happen in the future, and you're afraid because you believe it will come to pass?"

"..."

"What was it? If you tell us, it could help us avoid it."

"It… no, it doesn't matter, because it won't happen. It's fine." Sapphire walked off, and his companions sighed.

"What kind of premonition would have caused that? For Sapphire to become so frightened?"

"Something that scares him more than monsters…" Willow frowned.

"Come on. Stay close to him." They sped up, Anthony eyeing the Chosen. "Whatever he saw we'll make sure it doesn't happen."

Eventually, they reached the bakery. It was a normal-looking building, with a blue and cream-colored awning over the doorway and a sign that said bakery above that. Entering the store, they saw a stairwell in the back that they made their way towards. On the second floor a man, sitting at a table. "Hm? Ya need something?"

"Yeah, you're the guy that lost the contact lenses in Dusty Dunes Desert, right?"

"What? You came to deliver my grandma's memento, the contact lenses?"

"Why do you speak like they're an item in a game?" Anthony muttered.

"Thank you, Thank you so much!"

"Uh, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"It's our family tradition to keep things forever… hm… alright, I know what I'll give you as a reward!" The man removed his shoes before taking off his socks. "These are the socks I only use for special occasions! I've worn these socks for five years straight, so technically just once since the last washing! They stink a bit, but they're still good!"

"Uh…"

"Hey, don't refuse! I'm being generous!" Sapphire slowly took the socks, holding them between his index and thumb before backing out of the room, and down the stairs.

When they exited the building, Anthony nodded. "So, now we throw them away."

"Yeah."

"Hey, you kids! Have ya heard of the glory of Monotoli?!" The reveler was immediately knocked out when the socks landed on his face.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

"We shouldn't be doing this."

"You're relaxing whether you like it or not," Willow giggled as she dragged the baseball-loving boy into the theatre.

"We should be focusing on getting the Mani-Mani statue…"

"However long we spend in here won't mean the city immediately goes to hell and back," Anthony sighed. "You need to relax. That's why I'm going along with this, even though it's clear that classical is superior to jazz every day of the week."

"Only idiots say that, Anty. Are you a fool?!" Willow screeched, shaking her fist.

"Your IQ isn't within three-hundred points of my own," Anthony shot back snootily.

"What am I in the middle of," Sapphire sighed.

"A classy argument," Willow nodded.

"There is nothing classy about this."

"Get in the building!" She shoved both of them forward, causing them to stumble inside the Topolla theatre. Inside they found a reception area, with a woman behind the counter.

"Hello, here to see the Runaway Five?"

"Yep!"

"You're just in time, we only had a few tickets left." They paid and grabbed their tickets, walking through. As they did, they heard two people conversing.

"Hey, didja hear?"

"Hear what?"

"'Parently the Runaway Five are in some serious debt."

Willow turned to Sapphire.

"Willow no."

"Sapphy~…"

"Bad Willow. No."

"Pwease?"

"Oh god no, you pulled an UwU."

"Uh, Pardon? What's going on?"

"Willow wants to help the Runaway Five out of their debt."

"And just how would we do that?"

"Diamonds!" Willow cheered.

"No," both Sapphire and Anthony spoke at once.

"Well, it's the team diamond, we should put it to the vote."

"We both just vetoed it."

"I love democracy," Sapphire sighed.

"We do it, or I pout for the rest of the journey."

"You're not serious." Willow just puffed out her cheeks, crossed her arms, and began pouting.

"Willow." She turned around, holding her head up.

"Ribbon. Stop this."

"Oh! Ribbon! I like that! Wait—" she turned back around, forgetting that she was upset for a moment.

"Well, you certainly aren't very good at being mad, are you?"

"Hmph!"

Sapphire sighed, rubbing his temples. "Alright— you know what, fine. Whatever! None of us know where we could sell a diamond anyway."

"Yay!" She turned and hugged him, cheering. "C'mon!" She dragged them towards a door with the name Miss Fake on a small plate next to the door.

"What an… appropriate name."

"Hush, Anty."

Entering the office they found a blonde woman sitting behind a desk, a small couch nearby. The woman looked up as they entered, her expression an odd mixture between bored, annoyed, and stuck up. "Hello children, was there something you needed?"

"Yeah, we want to ask about the Runaway Five's contract."

"That's not for children to know about, now scurry off."

"Well that's rude," Sapphire muttered.

"The Runaway Five belong to the Topolla theatre, so such a matter as this is none of your concern."

"Well, we're friends with the Runaway Five, so I'd say it is our concern!" Willow cut in, placing her hands on her hips.

"You? I'd hardly think insignificant brats such as you could have any connection to anyone important at all! Let alone the Runaway Five."

"…hey wait a minute, that was an insult!"

"Yes, Willow, it was. Listen, miss, we have something that could pay off all of the Five's debt—"

"Ha! Sure. I'll have the security guards escort you out if you don't leave, now. I might even get you arrested. I'm pretty close to Monotoli, I'll have you know."

"Thoughts?" Anthony muttered.

"One." Sapphire sighed. "You may not like it."

"Lovely."

"Your dad… is a pretty famous scientist, ain't he? If she knew you were related to someone like that, wouldn't she hear us out?"

"…you were correct in your assumption, I don't like it."

"Now, if you would please—"

"You're rather rude, you know."

The woman sputtered, "Excuse me?"

"You're rather rude. You say that we cannot be connected to anyone, so you clearly don't recognize me."

"And just who might you be?!"

"Why, have you ever heard of Doctor Andonuts?"

"Very funny, but you aren't quite old enough to be a doctor."

"Of course not, I'm his son, not the doctor himself, you oaf."

"How dare—"

"I'm sure you heard the doctor had a child that he sent off to a boarding school for several years, well we met up recently and he's given me some money to travel the world and do as I please. These are my compatriots, and your slander towards them and myself has greatly offended me."

"Y—you don't have any proof!"

"Truly? Why not give my father's laboratory a call then? He shall give you the proof."

"He's really getting into this," Willow whispered.

"Yeah, he even used the pretentious version of 'laboratory.' Slash the Winters version."

Meanwhile, the woman had grabbed the phone on her desk and dialed the number Anthony had given her. After waiting a moment, likely for it to stop ringing and Andonuts to pick up, she spoke. "Hello, am I talking to Doctor Andonuts?"

There was a pause. "Yes, well, I have some ruffians in my office, and one of them claims to be your child!" Pause. "Blond hair, glasses, a light-blue blazer and pants, bow-tie—" she blinked and did a double-take. "W-w-w… t-that is your son?!"

"I told you as such," Anthony sighed, brushing his hair back.

"Y-Yes, so sorry to bother you, Doctor!" She hung up and shook as she looked towards the thirteen-year-olds. "M-my apologies, Mister Andonuts. I assumed—"

"You assumed, yes. How about next time you wait until you have gathered all of the facts, before jumping to your conclusions!" All of them jumped at the anger in the boy's voice, before Sapphire hid his laughter behind a clenched fist.

"H-holy crap, man…"

"Now, the contract! We asked for it several minutes ago, and now that is several minutes WASTED! If you do not wish for me to go straight to Monotoli and have you driven from this city by an angry mob, then I suggest bringing it out, now."

"Y-Yes, sir."

"This is awesome."

"Oh, can I start cracking jokes about you being _his _girlfriend?" Sapphire smirked.

"I dunno, we gotta wait for the last Chosen to show up before I decide. Then, I shall have you all attempt to woo me, before I make my final choice."

"How nefarious," he chuckled. Willow smiled, happy that he seemed to have forgotten about whatever was making him so scared and sad. Everything was better when people smiled!

"Hmph. I see how those idiot Runaway Five members fell for this contract, but anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together could easily see all of the traps in this contract, as well as the loopholes one could use to get out. However, they are my… associates. So, I must ask you to get rid of this contract."

"I-I'm sorry sir, but I can't."

"Even if I go to Monotoli?"

"E-even then, sir…"

"Very well, then I shall just have to persuade you another way. Sapphire, I require… it."

"Uh… oh! Right!" He brought out the diamond and handed it over to the blond. He almost fell to his knees from the weight when Sapphire handed it over but managed to stay standing, barely.

"H-here."

"O-oh my… Yes! I'll take this! I mean… it isn't worth very much, perhaps fifty dollars, but I'll take what I can…"

"Do not take me for a fool, woman. I do this out of the goodness of my heart."

"Of course sir, my apologies! The contracts all gone! No more!" She ripped it up, and Anthony nodded.

"Well done. Thank you for your time." He left, swiftly followed by Sapphire and Willow.

The second the door closed behind them Sapphire grasped the blond by the shoulders and began shaking him. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!"

"That was brilliant!" Willow cheered, jumping onto the boy's back.

"H-hey, watch it!" Anthony almost fell were it not for Sapphire shaking him. "Listen, I just did as you asked. Used my… Doctor Andonuts to get her to listen."

"And you said you were shy when we first met!" Willow exclaimed.

"Yes, in large groups. One on one, or smaller groups of people I'm fine with."

"Heh, maybe we can go see this Monotoli guy if you pull that card again. The son of the greatest scientist in the world!"

"I'd rather not."

"Uh… yeah, I guess you have that… weird relationship with him, don't you?"

"What relationship?" He scoffed. "You could hardly call it a relationship, and that's the end of it."

Sapphire sighed, letting it go. If he didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't push. "Alright then. I guess we should go in."

"Yes. We should."

Pushing through the doors into the theatre, they were greeted with several dozen rows of seats, all facing the stage towards their right. "C'mon, let's find some seats!" Willow cheered. She pulled them along searching for any seats until they found a set near the middle.

An announcer suddenly began speaking as soon as they sat down, "Welcome to the final Runaway Five performance at the Topolla Theatre!"

Sapphire just blinked in surprise. "How did they find out so quickly?"

"Beats me."

"It is odd…"

"It's going to be a great show! We're so good it makes me think that those three kids in the center row will wet their pants! Those kids are hip, baby!"

"How can you see us in the dark?!"

"Quiet, Sapphire!"

The curtains on the stage opened up, and the band quickly began to play. The two singers, the skinny and fat one that Sapphire and Willow spoke to all the way back in Twoson, were joined by a beautiful blonde woman in a tight black dress and high heels.

Willow prematurely grabbed both boys by the ears. "Ow!"

"Hey!"

She just giggled and let them go, causing them to look at each other, bewildered, before looking back towards the stage. The show was amazing, the three singers' voices meshed wonderfully, with the band playing behind them. Sapphire felt himself smiling as he hummed along, while Willow clapped to the rhythm, and Anthony sat back with his eyes closed. He wasn't asleep, merely focusing all his attention to his hearing to enjoy the music.

The show began wrapping up, the music getting faster, before all of a sudden the Runaway Five tour bus drive onto the stage, and the three singers jumped on and sang their last notes before it drove off. The band kept playing, the melody coming to a close before the curtains closed as well.

"Holy crap!"

"How did they get the bus on stage?!"

"That… is difficult to answer," Anthony murmured, trying to think about how it could have been done.

"Come on, let's get going." Sapphire smiled and led them out of the theatre. "Thanks, by the way. That… helped."

"No problem!"

"Indeed. You _are _our leader. We need you in a stable state of mind to order us around."

"Ha, finally accepting me as your superior?"

"Don't push it."

"We should probably stick up on supplies if we're going to be finding the statue!" Willow hummed.

"I believe I saw that a department store was opening up, it's just a block over."

"Oh, nice. Let's check it out." They made their way down the crowded city streets, eventually coming across the massive building, with the words 'Department Store' over the doorway. "What, no chain? Just Department Store? Eh, whatever." They entered and were greeted with cheery music over the loudspeakers.

"Looks like there are several different levels," Anthony said, looking at a map next to the doorway. "Food, utilities, toys."

"Ooh, toys!"

"Willow we're not here to get toys. Besides, you have Mister Teddy."

"Aw poop."

"Language."

They hopped onto an escalator and rode up, stopping on the second level, the food court. "Ooh, candy!"

Sapphire rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll get some candy, but only a little. Real food heals us more." Willow squealed and ran towards the candy store, Sapphire and Anthony quickly following as they eyed the other stores. "Burgers would be best, they're easy to eat and I can fit a bunch in my bag."

"True. Of course, I have no opinion on this, as I am unable to be healed by consumables."

"I guess so." Anthony sighed as Sapphire agreed with him. He wasn't sure why, after all, he was the one who'd said it, but the casual agreement did hurt his pride a touch. He didn't have special powers, he couldn't fire blasts of fire, ice, or lightning, couldn't talk with his mind over long distances, not even some weak telekinesis. He was just an engineer.

Sapphire quickly noticed and started waving his arms. "W-Whoa, sorry man, I didn't mean to imply something? Or whatever you're thinking?"

"I know, you didn't do anything wrong. I just wish I was more useful, I suppose. The only thing I've really done is bring along the Bad Key Machine, and that's only been used once. I wasn't even the one who invented it!"

"You're definitely useful! I might be the one that tells you what to do, but you're the one that tells us when we've made a mistake, or how to fight! Where to hit, or what an enemy is weak to! Plus, all of your explosives definitely help when me and Wils run out of PSI, heck, you absolutely demolish when that happens!"

"Yes… I suppose so…"

"All three of us have our roles! I heal you guys and take heavy hits, Willow deals the damage, and you investigate the enemies, plus you keep us on track when we get too excited."

"Hm. Yes, you would all be lost without me."

"Hey, don't push it." They both laughed as Sapphire repeated back his words from earlier. "Anyway, what brought that up?"

"Nothing. Well…" he sighed. "My father sent me away for ten years. And for ten years, I wondered what I did wrong. I eventually reached the conclusion that… I wasn't good enough. That I had to be better for my father to acknowledge me. So I threw myself into my studies, aiming for the top. But even as the smartest child in that school, my father never once called, never once even sent a letter."

"So that's why you're so smart?" Sapphire asked, half curious, half attempting to add some levity to the conversation.

"I suppose it is," Anthony smiled. "Plus, my natural affinity for studying and learning. So, even though I still have some of those fears… the reason I call Doctor Andonuts Doctor, and not father, is that I can't see him that way. He just… isn't."

"I can kind of see where you're coming from. My dad works overseas a lot, and he isn't around much. When I was younger I thought it was because he hated us, but it was really so that we could live happily. Even if he had to spend a lot of time away, he made enough money that we never had to worry, and even now he's been supplying us with money. For the journey!

"But I want you to know that neither myself or Willow think that you're worthless. You matter to us, as a really close friend! I care for you just as much as I do Willow, you know? You guys joke about her being my girlfriend, but we all know that we're just friends… I kind of think of her as another little sister, like Tracey. So I care for you as if you were my brother. And we'll always stick together."

Anthony looked away, his glasses fogging up. He smiled and wiped them down, ignoring the wetness in his eyes. "Of course. Nothing will separate our group."

"Wait, so your smart talk, is that you trying to sound smarter and useful?"

"…yeah, it kind of is," his voice lost the inflection he put in it, though there was still a subtle hint of it as he _was _born in Winters. "It's kinda a habit."

"Holy crap that sounds weird," Sapphire chuckled. "Well, it's your choice whether you want to keep talking like that or not."

"I might, might not. Someone has to sound proper in this group."

"Heh, got me there."

"Wait… if you care for me just as much as you care for Willow… and we make jokes that you two are dating… do we have to make jokes about us dating now?"

They looked at each other before bursting out into laughter. "Nah!" They said in sync.

"Bros?" Sapphire grinned, holding it a fist.

Anthony grinned back, finishing the fistbump. "Bros."

"Wow, are you two dating now?"

"Willow I swear to god!"

"My laser could vaporize your cells on an atomic level should I wish to set it to that setting!"

After another back and forth they continued up through the store, exploring the other levels. Above the food court, they sold clothing and other items, and Sapphire managed to sell the platinum band they had found, while Willow bought a new ribbon she had christened the Defense Ribbon, even though neither of the boys could see anything different about it.

The fourth floor held the toy stores, which Willow perused gleefully, while Sapphire looked around at the video games. "Ooh, check it! Earthbound two trailers!"

"I thought it was Mother three?" Anthony questioned, not knowing much of video games.

"Eh, the second game was changed from Mother two to Earthbound. It sounds cooler so that's what most people call it."

"I wonder if they'll ever translate and bring it to Eagleland or Winters."

"I'm sure they will, eventually. Not like they'd hoard it to themselves."

"All done!" Willow cheered, hopping over.

"You didn't buy anything."

"Well duh, I was window shopping! You were doing the same thing with the games!"

"Huh. Guess you're right."

"So, we're leaving?" Anthony questioned.

"Yeah. I guess we should go investigate this Monotoli guy, starting with his tower." They all nodded and made for the escalators. As they descended, there was a nagging feeling in the back of Sapphire's head. What was it? Something to do with his premonition? He couldn't make out the background details of it, besides that odd world of neon blues and yellows…

They finally reached the ground floor and made for the exit. Out of the corner of his eye, Sapphire spotted a couple of mice chattering to themselves near a wall. They seemed nervous for some reason. The feeling was growing. He clenched and unclenched his hands. Small sparks erupted from his eyes as he unconsciously let some PSI loose, as though he were attempting to intimidate someone, though he didn't know who.

The lights in the building suddenly flickered, and everyone on the floor looked confused. "Perhaps something is wrong with the wiring?"

The lights completely went out, and they were doused in darkness. Several people cried out in surprise, while the three Chosen stood back to back, ready for an attack. They all felt wind suddenly flow by, as though something had run by at an extreme speed. The screams of nearby people suddenly stopped, and the lights began flickering back on for a moment, revealing that all of the people around them had disappeared.

The lights finally shut down completely, and the only visibility they had was from the light streaming through the windows. "Hold a moment, I developed something last night for situations like this." Anthony reached into his bag and grabbed a small sphere with a pin. He attached the pin to his blazer, and suddenly the sphere lit up, shining a light on everything around them. "It's a little clip-on light source. So you two don't have to waste PSI in caves using Flash or Fire."

When Sapphire didn't answer, the blond turned around. "Sapphire?" The dark-haired boy was kneeling on the ground, looking at nothing. "Sapphire!"

He looked up. "Willow's gone."

Anthony blinked, before looking around. He was right. She was gone. There was a sudden rumble, and Anthony stumbled as he almost fell. The ground under Sapphire cracked as a wave of psionic energy erupted from the boy. Anthony was pushed back as the floor began crumbling, and struggled to stay upright. "SAPPHIRE!"

A blast of energy, luckily away from Anthony, caused the complete collapse of a wall of the department store."It happened… I knew it would… I couldn't stop it… I couldn't stop it… couldn't, couldn't, couldn't, couldn't, could**n't, couldn't, couldn't, couldn't…"** another blast of energy, and down went another wall.

"Damnit, Sapphire, calm down!" The energy around the boy pulsed again, and Anthony fell to his knees as pressure pushed down on him, as if gravity had increased. "Sapphire!" He began crawling, hands becoming cut up and bleeding as he made his way over the shredded floor. He managed to reach the raven-haired boy and reared back.

Sapphire's head shot to the side, blood flying from his lip. He was momentarily shocked out of his state of rage, grief, and fear, before it all came crashing back down again. The gravity tripled, and Anthony cried out as he heard pieces of himself snap. This only seemed to double Sapphire's panic. "She's gone! You're hurt! And it's my fault!"

"N-no!" Anthony grit his teeth as pain shot through him, from several broken bones. "Calm down! I'm f-fine, and we'll find her!"

The intercom crackled. "Attention please… would the customer from Onett, Mr. Sapphire, please proceed to the office on the fourth floor. That was customer Sapphire, fourth-floor office… geh heh heh…"

Anthony refocused on Sapphire. "You have to get a hold of yourself! Sapphire! We won't find her if you stay here!"

The boy's body trembled, energy lashing out, sparks flying. His eyes flashed, blood red, neon blue, golden yellow. He grit his teeth as the PSI energy flowing through his body ruptured skin and caused blood to leak from him. He suddenly screamed and clutched his head. The light flashing from his eyes suddenly dimmed while the energy flowing from the PSI sensitive ceased, and the pressure on Anthony let up.

Sapphire said nothing as he grasped Anthony's shoulder, pulsing a Lifeup through him. The blond felt all of his injuries repair themselves and watched as his friend turned away. "Sapphire? Answer me!"

"…let's go. The fourth floor, right?"

"Sapphire, turn around!"

"Why?" He did so anyway and tilted his head. "We need to move."

Anthony's breath caught. His normally deep brown eyes were different. When using his powers they flashed through the colors of his Hope. But now they were bright silver. No emotion shone from them, they were completely dead.

"Come on. Let's go."

"Sapphire…"

"What."

He didn't answer, and soon Sapphire turned away, climbing the stopped escalator. Anthony watched him go, taking note of his fists. They were clenched, his knuckles white and trembling. He was holding back his emotions, for his sake and Anthony's. "That's not good," he grimaced. If the boy let go for a single moment, all of those pent up feelings could explode out… and he wasn't sure if he would be in the blast radius.

He grabbed his rifle and followed his team leader. Either way, he had his back.

He always would.

* * *

**Sapphire: "Hey Giygas, check out my teammate who everyone thinks is my girlfriend."**

**Giygas: Sees how empty the inside of her head is. **

**Also Giygas: "This bitch EMPTY! _YEET!_"**

**What do you mean this isn't canon?**

**Review with what you liked about the chapter or just a 'nice,' both are cool.**

**See y'all next time.**


	17. Chapter 17: Nightmare

Chapter Seventeen: Nightmare

Sapphire bashed aside a living music disc, watching it shatter against the ground emotionless. Another tried to swipe at his neck with its sharpened edge until he grabbed it.

It whimpered as he ignored the blood leaking from his palm, before _smashing _it into the ground. A third was blasted by Anthony's laser before the blond fired a bottle rocket at a group of records.

"Sapphire, customer Sapphire! Please hurry to Willow! Gahahah!" The hilt of Sapphire's bat visibly dented inwards as Sapphire clenched his fists harder, although his face didn't change. It hadn't changed at all, in fact, from the moment he'd bottled up his emotions. It was the same lifeless visage, even when he was injured.

Up another escalator, and a record whizzed through the air. It impacted and began cutting into Sapphire, blood splattering as it sliced through his stomach. He didn't even flinch, instead bringing the hilt of his weapon down to crack the creature in two, before digging the glass shards from his stomach and tossing them away. "Lifeup." His body glowed goldenly and instantly healed, no blemishes remaining.

Out of nowhere several walking musical instruments charged at them. Literally, in some cases, as several sparked with electricity. "Why do these things look like something from a Saturday morning cartoon?" Anthony questioned, blasting two.

Sapphire just kept bashing them aside, uncaring of when their strings whipped him or their sparks shocked him. He mercilessly destroyed them, sending their broken pieces flying across the floor.

The sound of more instruments approaching caused Anthony to sigh. "Damn, Sapphire, can you destroy the next wave with a Hope? We need to move."

Sapphire just turned and raised his arm. "Hope." Energy sparked, but nothing happened.

"Sapphire?"

The boy looked at his arm, before looking back up. "Flash." The brightest Flash that Sapphire had created yet exploded and Anthony had to turn away or risk being blinded. When he looked back, every enemy was destroyed.

"Okay… that was something. Sapphire, what happened to Hope?"

"It's not right for me to use it."

"What, pray tell, does that mean?"

Sapphire ignored him and continued walking. They came upon a door at the end of the floor, and while the voice came over the intercom once again, they could clearly hear it from inside the room. "Sapphire, customer Sapphire! Gwah hah!"

Sapphire calmly opened the door and walked in. The room seemed normal, except for the tentacle monster sitting behind the desk. That was just a bit odd. "Gwargh hargh! You've finally made it! This department store will be your grave!"

"Where's Willow."

"Huh? Aren't you listening?! I'll be sending you to hell! Well, I suppose heaven… eh, either or! Gah hah hah!"

The table suddenly flew across the room and smashed out the window. "Where. Is. Willow."

"If you want to know, then defeat me!" The monster lunged forward, and Anthony backed away to get a shot, but Sapphire just stood there and let the creature wrap around him. "Eh? You'll just let me win? Fool!"

"Who said you'd win?" Sapphire suddenly reached up and grasped its antennas, ripping them apart. It screamed out in pain before Sapphire stomped down and crushed its lungs. Or at least, where he assumed its lungs were. "Where is Willow?" The monster didn't answer, wriggling in pain as it died. "Oh. Whoops. Lifeup." The body parts of the creature pulled back, merging together as it healed. "Where is she?"

"Like… like I'd—" Sapphire cut it off, ripping off a tentacle. "Gah!"

"I can kill you as many times as I want, as long as I heal you in time." He ripped off another tentacle. The creature struggled in his grip, before he stomped down, crushing its head. "So, stop being stubborn. Lifeup."

The monster gasped. "You… you're no better than us! Torturing me for—"

Sapphire stomped down, crushing its eye. "Maybe I should start going slower. I'll just tear you apart piece by piece to bring you to the brink of death before healing you." He crushed the second, blinding it, either ignoring or not caring for its screams.

"Sapphire…" Anthony gulped, wavering near the edge of the room. This was wrong. Sapphire hated killing and only killed Giygas' monsters because it was necessary. Torturing them, killing them over and over again, this wasn't just his emotions exploding out, this was something else. He caught a glimpse of Sapphire's eyes as he stomped down, and saw they were flickering between silver and gold.

"Li**feu**p." The creature was once again brought back from death. "H**ow many m**ore t**i**mes **do we **have to go **over th**i**s? J**us**t gi**v**e **me w**hat I need."** Oh great and now his voice was screwy. Something was definitely up, and if Anthony had to guess, it had to do with the infamous statue. It was most likely influencing him somehow, turning him more violent. His theory must have been partially correct when his eyes were silver, his voice was normal. Gold, and his voice… was something else.

"Monotoli! She's with Monotoli!" The creature cried, tears running from its eyes. "Please, just let me die already! It's unbearable! I'm sorry Lord Giygas!"

"There. **Wa**s th**at **s**o hard?" **Sapphire kicked the creature away. "**We're le**aving. For something that pathetic, death would be a blessing. I'm not in a mood to hand those out."

"Well, at least your voice went back to normal," Anthony nervously grumbled, staring at the boy. Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his neck before he was pulled back. "Gck! Sa—!"

"You'll pay! Even if I can't kill you, I can kill this boy!" The tentacles of the creature wrapped around Anthony's neck and began strangling him, while others grabbed his arms to prevent him from escaping. It was desperate. If it couldn't kill at least one of them, Giygas would send other monsters to punish him! Him! A loyal servant of Giygas!

"You didn't learn." Anthony suddenly felt himself get tugged again, this time away from the monster. He slammed into a wall and watched as Sapphire telekinetically held the monster in place. "I gav**e you a chance and you didn't **_**fucking **_**learn from it." **Sapphire suddenly _smashed _his bat into the monster's side, causing it to cry out. "**That's it. He's done. Sapphire finally let go. It's my turn."**

He began bashing away, each hit causing the monster to cry out as it tried to squirm away. Slowly, Sapphire's visage grew more angry and animalistic, a primal rage filling his face. But along with it came every single other negative emotion he had been holding back. Grief, pain, fear, sadness. His eyes let loose rivers of tears even as they burned with hatred, his mouth let out sobs as he screamed with fury.

His swings became wilder, he reared back further and further for each one. The ground was shattering after every blow. The monster had died a minute earlier, but he kept going, his own screams echoing through the store as Anthony watched, unable to think of a way to help his friend.

"**He's struggling… no, he's regaining control. Figures. He has a strong mind." **Sapphire stood straight, adjusting his hat. "**But… while I'm here,"** He pointed his palm at the mangled corpse. "**I've still got some anger to work off. Some… Despair. A fun fact, Ant." **He jolted as Sapphire turned to him. "**Some cultures consider there to be the eighth sin. Despair. So… soon, within Eden, Hope will clash against Despair. I wonder who will remain in control afterward…"**

"Sapphire… what…?"

"**Not exactly. I'm more his negativity. His nightmare, what he Hopes he will never become. You can call me whatever. Nightmare, Negative Sapphire… no, that's too long. Whatever. You'll be dead in a moment, so it doesn't matter what I tell you," **Sapphire chuckled.

"What…?"

"**Still don't get it? That's fine. If you're not fighting back it'll be easier." **Sapphire twirled his bat and laughed.

"Why didn't you kill me earlier then?"

Sapphire blinked. "**Wha—" **

"I… get some of it." Anthony slowly raised his gun, licking his lips nervously. "You're… something created by Giygas, or the statue. But you didn't attack me, even if you weren't in full control until now when your voice got bizarre, you could have done something… so, there are two answers. You were influenced enough by Sapphire's emotions that you _had _to kill this alien before you could take care of me, or Sapphire's positive emotions for me are just strong enough to prevent you from killing me. Right now, you're just bluffing, trying to scare me."

"**Heh. There's a reason you're considered just as dangerous as the other Chosen, even without PSI. Indeed, Sapphire is just strong enough to prevent me from killing you… but I'd be careful in the future. If his emotions grow too strong…" **his eyes flashed, and he grinned. Anthony wasn't sure, but for a moment it seemed like his teeth were razor-sharp, "**I'll kill you."**

He suddenly grimaced and held his head. "**Time's almost up. But, I feel like going out with a bang. Despair… Ω." **The _entirety _of the building's side was blown apart, as Nightmare unleashed a blast of psychic energy even more powerful than Sapphire's Hope Ω, but colored endless black, blood red, and golden yellow. The corpse of the monster, which was what Nightmare had been aiming for, was completely atomized.

Anthony cried out as the air pressure threw him back. He rolled, before shaking his head. Looking up, he saw Sapphire collapse, blood leaking from several orifices.

"Well… this is… yeah. What a day…"

* * *

Sapphire slowly awoke and groaned. "What the fuuuuuck…"

"Well, that's new." He opened his eyes and saw Anthony working on some machine next to the bed he was in. "Never thought I'd hear you curse. I guess Nightmare didn't really count…"

"What?" Oh… he _had_ cursed. That was odd. He'd heard curse words before of course, but he hated saying them. Damn or crap was really the most he ever spoke. "Anthony, what happened?"

"What, block out the memories? I suppose it's logical, your mind protecting you from trauma." He looked up. "You tortured an alien, went insane, and blew up a building. Luckily, you, or really Nightmare, healed me whenever I was hurt."

"...what?"

"Yeah, it's weird to me too." Anthony sighed, before putting away the machine. "You got something in your head with you, Sapphire?"

"I-I don't think so…" Sapphire clutched his head, trying to force whatever he'd forgotten to come back. "The only… Willow!" He snapped up, eyes wide. "Willow is gone."

"Well, that's one thing. Yes, she's gone. The only clue we have is that Monotoli has her. So, she's probably inside that tower of his. If you were at full strength I'd suggest storming it, but there's also the civilians to worry about."

"Wait, full strength? What do you mean?"

"Try and use Hope."

"We're inside—"

"Trust me."

"PSI Hope α." Sparks flew. Nothing else. "Wha… PSI Hope β!" Same result. "What the hell?"

"Yeah. I'd hoped that you could use it now… but logically I knew you couldn't. Even if you're calmer, there's still a dangerous cocktail of emotions flowing through you. We need to fix this."

"Fuck yeah we do!" Sapphire shouted, waving his arms. "I mean, I can't even use my main power! How the hell are we going to get **Wil**lo**w b**ac**k l**ike **th**i**s?!"**

"I knew it, the shock is wearing off and your emotions are resurfacing." Anthony rubbed his forehead. "Look, I made something that should help keep you calm, but it'll make you even more useless."

"**Why **the **he**ll wo**uld **I **ag**re**e t**hen?!"

"Because if you don't, I'm leaving you here. You'll be too dangerous."

"…" he sighed. "**Tch.** **Alr**ight."

"So. Over the course of our journey I've had one of my machines scan your brainwaves—"

"Voyeur."

—I'm just going to ignore that and continue with my statement, and your PSI seems to be linked to your emotions."

"What do you mean?"

"Your energy isn't powered by them, more like its powered _up _by them. You can be calm and operate at one-hundred percent, but if you were angry you'd be operating at three-hundred percent, for example."

"So… what?"

"Something that I haven't tested, is what if I completely strip you of your emotions? Completely detach you."

"So turn me into a sociopath."

"Just… listen. I'm not shutting down your emotional center. I'm cutting it off from your PSI. Even though like I said, it doesn't rely on your emotions, the shock of being detached like that might be able to keep you stable for some periods of time. A side effect is that your emotions will be muted. Not off, just muted."

Sapphire thought it over, before throwing the sheets aside and getting up. "All right. Do it."

Anthony nodded, pressing a button on the machine he was working on. A wave of light shot out, and Sapphire felt a brief migraine form, before fading. Along with his rage and other emotions.

"How do you feel?"

"…fine."

"Muted tone of voice, no inflection… and his eyes have gone back to silver. I see. Looks like it worked."

"Okay."

"Yeah, this is unsettling. Nevertheless, we should go."

"Where are we, anyway."

"Fourside hospital."

"Oh."

"Alright, side-effect: speech has regressed to—"

"I could talk more, I just don't feel like it."

"Never mind then." They made their way out of the hospital, grabbing Sapphire's belongings on the way.

"So, where to."

"Monotoli. We won't be able to 'storm his castle,' per se, but we can at least investigate it. Perhaps find an infiltration route."

"Do you have some way to scale the building, maybe we can get in through the top."

"Note, Sapphire can still strategize…"

"I'm emotionless, not dumb."

"Note, he can feel offended. Uh, and no. We'll have to go in on the ground."

"Great."

"Note, he can also use sarcasm. Or I might just be mixing up his emotionless tone for a sarcastic one…"

"You'll be doing this a lot, won't you."

"It seems so."

They approached the large tower that Monotoli resided in, a gaudy building with the man's name plastered down the front in golden letters. "Let's go." They entered and observed a normal reception area and lobby. A woman behind the counter, two people on benches, and an elevator towards the back of the room.

Sapphire immediately made his way towards the elevator, while Anthony followed. "Won't they try and stop us?"

"If they do, you bluff us out of it." Anthony just sighed before nodding. When Sapphire pressed the button for the elevator, it opened to reveal a woman standing bored next to the control panel. "Take us all the way up."

The woman rolled her eyes and pressed the button. "This elevator goes to the forty-seventh floor."

"The building looks like it is taller, however." Anthony pointed out.

"Just don't stare at my hips," the woman sighed.

"We're thirteen, why would we."

"So he _can_ use sarcasm," Anthony mumbled. A short elevator ride later and they got off. Two men in suits stood in front of a door, while in front of them was another elevator. When they tried to press the button, nothing happened. "It must be a private elevator," Anthony deduced. He then spotted an 'out of order' sign. "Oh."

"Maybe we should break it down and climb up the service ladder."

"DON'T."

"Fine."

They instead walked towards the door with the security guards. "Are you a friend of the Master?"

"Sure."

"Then it's alright to visit him here, just don't wander about the building. The master's room is the first on the right." With that the man opened the door, letting them through.

"Well, that was surprisingly simple."

"Yeah." Through the doors they went, before following the guard's directions and wandering through the doors to their right.

What they saw caused Sapphire to immediately twitch and the machine in Anthony's backpack to spark. "Oh crap," the blond muttered.

On a gold couch sat Pokey, who watched them smugly. "Ooo la la!" Pokey spread his arms and grinned. "It's my _poor _old friend! Emphasis on poor! Ah, what was your name? Pig's butt? No… no, it was Sapphire! Did you come here to beg me for some money?"

"What are you doing here, Pokey?" Sapphire asked, emotions slowly crawling their way back into his voice, turning it from toneless to seething. "I thought you went home after the incident in Happy-Happy."

"Nope! Now I'm Master Pokey! I'm Geldegarde Monotoli's business partner, I give him political and economic advice!"

"What? You've never had any sense of money at all! Hell, I don't think you can count past fifteen! This is… wait. Back in Happy-Happy… the Mani-Mani Statue never stopped having an effect on you, did it?"

"There you go! Took your idiot brain long enough!"

"Why y**ou…"** Sapphire's eyes flashed before he forced himself to take a calming breath. "**What happe**ned Pokey? We weren't best friends back in Onett, but we _were friends_! You were annoying, but you weren't an asshole! It's not just the Mani-Mani's work, you've changed! Please, let me help you."

Pokey seemed to twitch for a moment, a sad and pleading look on his face appearing. However, that swiftly disappeared he and went back to mocking them. "You know, I heard three ratty-looking kids were looking for Monotoli, but I only see two here! Might that be because Monotoli already has your other friend? The cute one?"

"If either of you tou**ch a hair on her head, then this building will be your tomb." **Sapphire spat out, a calm rage filling his voice and eyes.

Pokey seemed to recognize the danger and backed off, a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "I-In any case, this isn't a place for you! Get out of here, loser!"

The guards behind Pokey moved forward, and Sapphire backed up. "Don't worry, we're leaving. But let me remind you… _when _I save Willow… she better not tell me that you did anything. **Or else not even '**_**Master Giygas' **_**could save you."**

As they left the room, Pokey sat there, sweating, before a nervous laugh left him. "H-heh, look at him… looks like the Mani-Mani statue is working perfectly at bringing out his negative side… does he really believe he can save that girl? As if!"

By deep inside, locked within his jealousy and contempt, he wished his former friend would help save him too.

* * *

"I'm not sure what went wrong, perhaps I need to up the power?" Anthony muttered.

"It's not your machine, that worked fine," Sapphire sighed. He rubbed the back of his head as he rolled his neck, cracking his neck. "Going emotionless for a bit actually felt pretty normal, but looking back on it now feels weird. Anyway, I think I should be fine until something happens to compromise my emotional state."

"Considering how just looking at that rotund boy was enough to compromise you, I'm pretty sure I should put you back under," the blond drawled back.

"Yeah, maybe…" they walked in silence for some time, just wandering around the city, since they had no clue what to do next. "Anthony… is there… any way to fix me?"

"What? Of course! Once we get Willow back—"

"It's not just that… sure, Willow being taken was what set me off, but really any emotional setoff will just trigger this… Nightmare." Anthony winced. "Yeah, I figured it out. It was pretty easy, usually my premonitions are easier to understand after a while, and I'm starting to remember a bit of what happened."

"How much…?"

"Her being taken, then my emotions welling up. I don't think I've ever felt more rage in my life… but there was also the fear, enough that I could have had a heart attack. And the sadness, I could have cried for days. It was… unnatural. It was like my negative emotions were being supercharged."

"Nightmare did call himself, itself? Whichever, your 'negative emotions.'"

"Yeah. But after that… some pain, then nothing. After a bit, I kind of… I don't know, realized something was wrong? I'm not sure how to explain it, but I started struggling, and the next thing I know I'm collapsing to the floor. I think I only remember Nightmare's words because I was fighting to get back, and was grasping back control over my mind."

"So… do you have any ideas on what 'Nightmare' is? He said negative emotions, but emotions aren't alive."

"Yeah, no shit."

"Language."

"Sorry… Uh, no. But I heard your words, and it definitely sounded right. Maybe some kind of creature made from my negativity due to the Mani-Mani?"

"That would be the case, yes. Additionally, it isn't just your wrath. It was crying, screaming… it was rather unnerving. So it would seem to be made of your despair, fear, and other such emotions."

"Why did it suddenly freak out like that towards the end, however?"

"Maybe… maybe I was still partially in control, and my body was split between us? Like, it was piloting but I was in charge of the emotions and keeping us calm, and then when you were held hostage I lost control and all of the emotions were let out at once. It might've overwhelmed it, even for a creature made of those emotions."

"And then once it regained control it regained what must be its normal personality, that sadistic one."

"Yeah!"

"So… what to do…"

"Maybe… is there any way to shut down my emotions?"

"Well, yes, that's what we did—"

"I meant permanently."

"…I suggest thinking about your next words very carefully, or not even your enhanced durability will prevent me from attacking you."

"Look, if I'm going to unleash some psycho version of me that attacks everything around us when I randomly get angry or some shit, then I'd rather get rid of my emotions for good instead of risk hurting—"

Smack!

"Now listen here," Anthony very sternly spoke, pointing at the shocked Sapphire. "I don't care if you getting mildly upset unleashes Satan himself upon our world, I will not let you erase your emotions to protect us. Emotions are key parts of human beings, and without them, we would have no desires, simply logic. Humans can't survive without emotion, there must be a mix of mind and heart to truly live."

"But—"

"I will not let you simply throw away your happiness to keep me safe, and I'm quite sure that Willow, your parents, your sister, and all of your friends would agree! That is the end of this discussion!"

Sapphire followed Anthony as he silently walked away before a small grin formed. "…thanks, Ant."

"Of course. Sapph."

"…so, regretting hitting me?"

"Of course! Each time I've smacked you I've hurt my hand! Your psionic durability is inconceivable!" The ravenette chuckled, swiftly followed by the honey-blond.

* * *

"So this is my room, huh?" Willow asked, twirling around.

"Yes, this is where you'll be staying," the security guard that had escorted her nodded, confirming her words. It was a small room, a bed, a door that led to what was probably a bathroom, a table, and a chair, plus a television. No windows, they probably thought she'd be able to escape through them. They were right, of course, which just made her pout that an easy escape route was gone.

"So, how long am I going to be Mr. Manatali's captive?"

"That's Mister _Monotoli." _The guard growled. "And you'll be here until we catch those other two boys you were with."

"Good luck with that one." Willow jumped onto the bed and began bouncing up and down, grinning. "Anty should too smart to let them get captured, and Sapphy… uh, I guess he can fight them out of a situation!

Elsewhere, Sapphire sneezed and felt like someone was talking bad about him.

"I'd suggest getting used to staying here! Once Master Pokey and Mister Monotoli catch the other two you'll be locked away for life!"

"I'm not sure that's very legal, you know," she giggled, sticking her tongue out.

"Ha! Mister Monotoli makes the law in this town! You think he cares?!"

"Well, that's true." She flopped down and lay on the bed. "Can I have my bag?"

"What? No! You're our prisoner!"

"Then why does my cell have a television?"

"…stop poking holes in our genius, all the cells in the police station were filled up!"

"Oh, fair enough." The guard stood there awkwardly before exiting the room and locking the door behind himself. Willow stared at the door before sighing and stretching.

"Well… back to waiting." Willow focused, and soon the sounds of cars far below on the streets of Fourside died down, and the bright lights in the ceiling dimmed, and she was in the mental plain. All around her was darkness, except for small, bright stars here and there.

But the one star she was looking for, it wasn't as bright as it should have been. Traveling through the mental plain was as easy as thinking, literally. She simply thought of Sapphire, and her head automatically turned to his star, with a similar star, Anthony's, besides it. But it was different.

Where before it had been a beautiful bright blue, it was now subdued, dull. Lifeless. Not literally, but figuratively. Willow hesitantly reached out and brushed her hand across it, before flinching as sensations shot through her mind. Memories of what he'd been through appeared like a slideshow. "Sapphy…" she whispered, tears coming to her eyes at the thought of what she'd put him through.

She reached out and brushed her hand against Anthony's star, a bright and pure white, like freshly fallen snow. However, she was too weak to communicate with the boy. It was like she had explained to Sapphire, or at least partially explained, back in Threed. She was the one that could talk with people in their minds, while he was the signal booster to help her get into their minds. She should have been able to communicate with Sapphire, as they were both PSI sensitives and touched each other's minds, so she wouldn't need him to be asleep, but as she had noted there was something wrong with him. She'd have to wait until Anthony was asleep to contact them.

She sullenly turned back to Sapphire's star, reaching out to caress his mind once more before she would stop. However, this time something different happened. Blood red strands burst forth and wrapped around her arm. She struggled, pulling back as laughter that was _almost _exactly like Sapphire's but at the same time different enough to be recognized as something else's. "**My my, snooping around? I thought you were taken far, far away! All the way up the tower!"**

"Well, I do like to surprise people," she cheekily giggled, trying to hide the fear that was sprouting. This… was Nightmare, then? It was dangerous. Not even Sapphire could traverse the mental realm, yet this horrible creature had emerged and taken her hostage in what was supposed to be her safest place.

"**Ooh, surprises are always fun," **Nightmare purred, hundreds or perhaps thousands of strands the size of strings emerging from Sapphire's star, knitting together into a mockery of Sapphire. A red and gold shirt and hat, black jeans, even his skin was paler, although his hair was the same shade of black, with his irises a bright golden and his pupils and deep red, while his sclera were an infinite black. He seemed to have some kind of horns bursting from his head, causing black ooze to drip from where they emerged from his flesh, and from his back were two demonic wings, tears in the membrane between the bones.

"Having fun with your appearance there, too?"

"**A bit~. I have to experiment after all. If little Sapphy can make it to Eden, we'll have a battle to the death~! I have to look sharp. In fact…" **his clothing changed, becoming black armor like that of an old Winters knight, with a long and flowing gold and red cape, although he kept the horns and wings, poking out from his helmet and back respectively. "**What do you think? Too much~?"**

"A bit," she mocked. Even his voice… yes, there was that warble that made it sound inhuman, possibly even demonic, but it was also the tone. It was too deep, husky, even. She couldn't ever imagine Sapphire speaking in such a way. She shivered in disgust. "So what now? Gonna try and kill me?"

"**Perhaps…" **Nightmare knew she hadn't seen the conversation between the two male Chosen about Nightmare not being able to harm them due to Sapphire's will, and Sapphire's memories of taking back control weren't clear enough for her to hear it. But of course, Nightmare had other ways to kill. "**I might just torture you with some information I'm **_**very **_**privy too first though~…"**

"Yeah, and what would that be?" She attempted to calmly juggle balls of frozen ice from her Freeze, doing all she could to prevent Nightmare from noticing how scared she felt that at any moment it might kill her.

"**Why, just how your precious leader will return those adorable feelings you have right back at you."**

"What…"

"**Its really cute how everyone around you can see how interested you are, yet the very boy you're attracted to simply doesn't see it! I wonder why that could be~? Maybe he's gay? Maybe he likes another girl? Come on, why do you think he'll never love you the way you love him?"**

"I… I don't…"

"**Heh, hehehe! I may just be his negativity, but I'm still him! I can see all of his other emotions! He feels determined that he'll find you… there's a touch of hope that he'll do it by the day's end as well! Ooh… here's some happiness when he's thinking about seeing his family again… ah! Here we go, love! He loves his mother and father, as well as the family dog King, and he thinks his sister is the most precious child in the world, even if he acts like she annoys him sometimes! Why, he partially wants to get this journey over with so he can fight off any boys trying to win her over while he's gone, hehe!**

"**And of course, his acquaintances! He loves Anthony as his best friend in the world, but nothing romantic. Luckily Anthony feels the same way, right~? Oh, but what's this? He loves Willow as well! Hear that? Aren't you happy?"**

"I know there's a twist coming," Willow whispered.

"**Spoilsport! He loves you… just like a little sister! No romantic feelings at all! I bet if you confessed the moment he rescued you, that he'd just smile and pat your head, telling you he loves you like family! Wow, I've heard of getting friend zoned, but I thought that's supposed to happen towards guys!"**

"…"

"**Aw, what's wrong? Feeling sad, that he'll never hold you like you want him to hold you? That his hugs will just be hugs, you'll never get to feel him pulling you close to kiss your forehead and whisper how you're more beautiful than the stars in the sky?! Gah haha!" **Its voice seemed to become more animalistic as it raved, reveling in beating her down with its words. "**Perhaps you should simply end yourself? Why wait to die inside when your beloved shoots you down without a care in the world when you can do it now! Use your ice, shoot an icicle through your brain or heart, roast yourself alive, electrocute yourself! Better to spare yourself the agony of rejected love with a quick and painless death!"**

"…"

"…**well?"**

"…no. I refuse." She smiled as Nightmare floated there, seemingly baffled at her answer. "Even if he wouldn't accept my love, and he might, since you could very well be lying, that doesn't mean I couldn't learn to love another… we're thirteen after all. Who's to say this isn't just a childhood crush?" Willow nodded, flaring with red-orange flames as she activated Fire β, causing Nightmare to back away, his strands unraveling. Airheaded, that was the term some people used for her. Happy-go-lucky with her head in the clouds, never thinking about the consequences of her actions. But that didn't mean she wasn't smart. When she needed, she could be serious, and think about a situation.

"Even if he doesn't love me back the same way, I'll continue giving my all for him. Continue fighting, just like Anty will, and just like our next friend will. We'll always have each other's backs, love be damned. And really, that little speech was just a touch too over the top. Even Sapphire could have seen what you were trying to accomplish."

"**Heh. I suppose I need to work on my speech skills then. I only know what Sapphire knows, after all. But, I can't say I'm not frustrated that didn't work… but I also can't say I'm not happy."**

"What do you mean?"

"**I'm part of Sapphire. His love for his friends is my own, even if severely muted. But pride, even for someone else, is a negative emotion, and I have to say, he takes a lot of pride in how kind-hearted and good-natured his friends are. I look forward to observing your journey… because remember, I'll always be here… waiting for my chance. His positive emotions won't stop me if I get loose~"**

"Then me and Anty will," Willow declared fire swirling around her in the mental plain.

"**That would be a fun fight… another time then, Willow…"** its strands completely unraveled, sucking themselves back into Sapphire's star, which remained a muted blue.

"So, I can't talk with Sapphy… and since Anty will always be by him Nightmare would notice if I tried to talk with him… looks like I really am on my own for now." She retreated from the mental plain, appearing back in her real body. She shook her head as he consciousness merged itself with her physical mind, and her body began feeling phantom pains of where the strands had restricted her. She ran her fingers down her arm, letting her nails graze her skin and look for marks.

Of course, there weren't any, and she sighed as she got up. Might as well take a shower and rest, she thought. I'm going to be waiting a while…

* * *

"Jesus, what the hell happened?!" Sapphire placed his ear against Everdred's chest and heard a weak heartbeat. "He's alive! Lifeup β!"

Golden light flowed over Everdred and he wheezed before sitting up. "What… Sapphire? Is that you?"

"Yeah! Thank god you're okay! What happened?"

"Well… I tracked the Mani-Mani statue down to Fourside, but I was tricked and it was whisked away before I could steal it away from Monotoli. It gives him power, and influences people's minds to love him!"

"Yeah, that's what happened in Happy-Happy," Sapphire nodded.

"You have to… check behind the counter in the cafe."

"What? What's behind the counter?"

"It's… I don't know, I couldn't comprehend what was happening…" he stood up before wobbling. "You healed me, but I'm still dizzy… I'll head to the hospital. Good luck, Sapphire."

As he walked away, they entered the cafe that was next to the alley Everdred had collapsed in. It looked normal, people sitting and drinking coffee or alcohol, with the man behind the bar cleaning a glass. Sapphire wandered over towards the bar, looking to make sure the man behind it wasn't looking, before inspecting the wall.

Nothing was off, it looked perfectly normal, and Sapphire was confused for a moment before he felt… something. An itch in the back of his head. He suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded, and he saw Anthony holding his head out of the corner of his eyes. They both suddenly collapsed and it all went dark.

But it was just a moment. The fear of letting Nightmare run wild jolted Sapphire back into his body, and he grasped at the bar to prevent himself from crashing. Of course, it was ironic that fear was just another negative emotion that would make the creature stronger, but since he was still in control he'd laugh about it later.

As his eyes refocused, he looked around. "Oh. That's different. The entirety of the bar had changed, the floor was so black it gave him vertigo from feeling like he was standing on nothing. The objects like bottles, tables, and the bar were outlined in neon yellows and blues, even the people seemed different, faces ever so slightly off. "Oookay…"

Anthony was still collapsed on the floor, so Sapphire quickly helped him up. "Ant, wake up!"

"Huh? Wha?" The honey blond shook his head, before looking around. "Where…?"

"I've got no idea, I feel like I passed out for a moment, then I looked around and everything was like this."

"We're still in Fourside, aren't we?"

"What? Fourside?" They turned to see one of the men at a table look at them, confused. "You're in Moonside."

"…Aw shit."

* * *

**May have gone overboard writing Nightmare, but it was fun. So I'll put this out here now: since Nightmare only knows what Sapphire knows, he's literally acting like an overly-dramatic cartoon villain on purpose and I love that idea. **

**Anyway, Moonside is next. I already have that chapter finished, plus like 90% of chapter 19, but I'll wait a few days before putting it out so I have a small backlog of chapters.**

**Anyway, tell me what you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' See y'all next time. **


	18. Chapter 18: Moonside

Chapter Eighteen: Moonside

"Alright what the hell am I looking at?"

"The never-ending void that exists within the heart of man, forever unexplored until today, by us two, weary travelers, who shall now uncover its endless secrets."

"…Anthony shut the fuck up."

"Rude."

The two boys stood outside of Jackie's Cafe, looking out over Moonside. It was a mix of beautiful, and horrible. The buildings, streets, and parks were all the same as Fourside's, only small blemishes here and there, something you would only notice if you looked closely enough. A window slightly to the left, a street sign angled too far down, the name of a building having an e instead of an a.

There were large ones too. Everything was black. So black that light seemed to not exist, and just get sucked in. The only reason they could see anything at all was that everything besides people were outlined in neon colors. Curbs, trees, buildings, the only things that weren't were colored in with their neon colors, and it made a rather beautiful view.

Along with that was the curvature or everything. Streets curved up towards the not-sky or down into the ground, buildings were more stable, not curving into spirals or upside down into the non-existent sky, but still slightly warped. Trees as well were gnarled oddly, twisting into unrecognizable shapes. In all, it seemed like the only thing that existed in the strange dimension was Moonside, since, at the very edges, where the streets curved towards the sky-less void, the ground ended.

Sapphire shook his head and looked away from the black void above them to prevent himself from getting a headache, and sighed. "So where do we go?"

"I'm not quite sure. Perhaps we should walk around and investigate this Moonside, search for a way out."

"Yeah, so wander around randomly," Sapphire sighed. "Well, it's better than nothing. Come on." They began walking down the road, vertigo washing over them as the road curved slowly upwards, yet somehow gravity kept them from falling.

"This is truly bizarre," Anthony muttered.

"Alright, now I know why I was standing in the ceiling in that premonition," Sapphire snickered. "It's kinda cool."

As they walked, a fire hydrant nearby suddenly shuddered, before a burst of water shot out from it. Anthony was blasted back and yelled in shock, as Sapphire turned. "Ant!"

Danger.

Sapphire ducked to the side as another blast of water shot over his head, before rolling to his feet. "PSI Hope α!" Sparks flew, and he groaned. "Son of… Alright, PSI Paralysis α!" The hydrant shivered as sparks began crackling around it, giving Sapphire enough time to close in and attack.

He bashed the hydrant aside, tearing the metal in two. It shone with the familiar light of any foe influenced by Giygas, before going still. Sapphire turned to Anthony who was slowly getting up. "You okay? PSI Lifeup α."

Gold light flowed over the boy, who nodded. "Indeed, I'm fine. Was that a living fire hydrant?"

"Guess so. I mean, I guess it's about as weird as those living trees or giant moles, so it's not _too_ much of a surprise."

"Perhaps. What other foes will Moonside have, I wonder?"

As they walked, some man that looked very similar to Everdred stood by the side of the road. "Stay here too long and you'll fry your brain… yes, you will. No, you will… not. Yesno you will won't."

"Ah… okay." They quickly moved on, leaving the guy to his insane rambles. Most of the people around them, whether they talked to them or not, were muttering to themselves, incoherent sentences that made no sense at all.

"Welcome to Moonside… Welcome to scmoondside… Welcome to edisnoom…"

"Sapphire's hp drops to zero! Anthony's hp drops to zero!"

"How do they know our names?" Anthony whispered, confused."

"Don't ask me," he muttered back.

"257 256 254 253… what're you looking at? If you've got something to say then say it! I'm counting backward! 252 251 250…"

"Didn't something sound wrong about that?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure what. Also, why start counting down from two-hundred and fifty-seven?"

"Don't ask me." A few blocks down they suddenly heard a ticking noise. Turning around, a floating clock that seemed to be melting suddenly jumped at them. "Whoa!" Sapphire raised his bat and tried to attack, but all of a sudden the clock disappeared with a shout of 'Toki yo, tomare!' and he hit empty air. "What?"

"Gah!" Sapphire turned to see Anthony stumble back, the clock having stabbed him with one of its hands. "Sapphire, why did you just stand there?!"

"I wasn't! The clock suddenly disappeared!"

"No, you—" Anthony suddenly stopped speaking and moving, in the middle of raising his gun. His entire body turned gray, while the sound of a clock ticking down sounded out.

Thuuuum, tick, tick, tiiick, tiiiiiickkk…

The clock attempted to attack him before Sapphire grabbed it and pulled it back before bashing it to the ground. Anthony suddenly started moving again, and the gray color scheme disappeared. "—stared at nothing before… what?"

"Holy crap, I think this thing can stop time or something!" The clock attempted to float up before Sapphire bashed it back down and smashed it to pieces. "HINJAKU HINJAKU! Not today!"

Anthony picked up some of the pieces and looked them over curiously. "I wonder how they do that? Perhaps it's just some part of Giygas' influence."

Sapphire rubbed his head and sighed, falling onto his butt. "Man, we're getting nowhere… what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"This place is the embodiment of insanity, I'm not sure that one could find a way out. After all, attempting to get out through the cafe as we got in gave no results."

"So what, we're stuck here?" Sapphire threw his arms up. "Fantastic! Great! Now we have no chance of getting to Monotoli, _or _saving Willow!"

"Wait… if this Moonside is a clone of Fourside, is there a Monotoli building here?" Anthony looked around, before motioning towards Sapphire. "Bring out your map!"

Sapphire grabbed his map of Fourside from his bag and began looking it over. "Alright, everything seems to be around the same area, so where are we now?"

Anthony looked at a nearby street sign. "Seventh Street, Benjamin Avenue."

"Okay… we should head that way!" They began running; eventually turning a corner and seeing the Monotoli building dead ahead. "Whoa." The corruption and distortion seemed to be at its worst surrounding the building. The ground around the building was in pieces and orbiting around it, floating several stories off of the ground. The building itself also seemed to be floating on a chunk of land, with a single path of ground connecting the floating island to the rest of Moonside.

Looking up, the building seemed to start to twist the higher up it went, the spire at the very top twirling and spiraling into loops. High above it, the edges of Moonside seemed to converge like the city was inside a sphere. "Yeah, this place is the center of the distortion, or Moonside, or wherever."

"It certainly seems like a distortion of the real world. Like someone's distorted view of Fourside." Anthony hummed and looked the tower up and down, thinking. "Almost like… our view of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it— as amazing as Fourside looked to us at first, it was like a giant maze. None of us have ever been in a place as large as the city, and it was terrifying. Then with Willow's kidnapping, the city is warped even more, plus, it seems like the distortion is centered around the building, and with our knowledge of Monotoli's involvement with Giygas we see Monotoli's building as a source of corruption in Moonside."

"…Christ, you're smart. What the hell?"

Anthony smirked and stood straighter. "I suppose I am."

"Still suck at fighting though."

"You know, you didn't have to add that." They approached the path leading up to the building and began climbing it, Sapphire nervously looking over the edges at parts, gulping as he looked down into the void.

"Yeah, this isn't nerve-wracking at all." At the top of the path, a man in blue with a beard blocked the way, his arms crossed behind his head. "Hey, mind letting us by?"

"No can do good, sir! I'm protecting the Mani-Mani Statue!"

"…alright, finding it was easier than expected. How do we move you?"

"What? Do you think I'll move? Hah! I ain't movin' even if you've got my old pal with the connected eyebrows and the golden tooth!"

"Yeah? And wh**at if I move you m**yself?" Sapphire growled.

"Sapphire…" Anthony warned, grabbing his shoulder. "Let's go, maybe we can find someone like that." He pulled him away and they made their way back down the path.

"…sorry. I just, I feel like we're close, and now some a**sshole is stopping us and—"**

"Hey, calm down. I don't want to use the Counter-PSI unit on you."

"**Tch, f**ine." Sapphire blew out a puff of air, before combing his hair back. "Let's go."

* * *

Willow propped her head up in her hands, kicking her feet as she stared at a wall. It had been a few hours now, and apparently, the tv wasn't plugged in, so she couldn't even watch anything.

Eventually, the door opened, and she turned her head to see who was coming in. It was two security guards, one with a plate of food, and between them was… "oh hey, you're… Porkey?"

"Pokey!" He twitched, before adjusting his cufflinks. "Master Pokey."

"Why Master? Why not lord, or emperor?" She laughed, throwing her head back. "Emperors are pretty cool, like our next teammate! He's a prince!"

"It's quite a shame that you'll never meet him, you know."

"Oh, don't worry," she shook her head. "Once Sapphire and Anthony get out of wherever they are, they'll head straight here!" Willow had tried a few more times to see if she could contact her teammates, but at all times it seemed like Nightmare was ready and waiting, so she had to stay away.

"The security of this building would easily hold them back," the large boy snickered. "Besides, the Mani-Mani Statue will take care of them, if they can find it."

So the statue wasn't in the building then, otherwise, Pokey's confidence and pride in his security wouldn't let him even think about them getting past the security and fighting the statue.

"How would it even take care of them? It's just a dumb statue," she asked innocently.

"The Mani-Mani is a gift from Lord Giygas," Pokey huffed, lifting his head to try and look down on her. "It was my destiny to follow it and bring more followers to Lord Giygas!"

"Your destiny?" She shook her head. "Who told you that?"

The boy hesitated, "I know it is! The statue was buried deep beneath my house, it must have been meant for me!"

"It was buried under your house?" The statue had mind-altering powers, she knew that for sure, so if it had been buried under Pokey's house his whole life, even if it hadn't started fully affecting him until it was unearthed, it could be why the blond was so hellbent on following it, and why he'd been so obsessed with it, even though everyone else affected by it back in Happy-Happy had been snapped out of their trances when Sapphire beat Carpainter.

"Yes! And that's when I knew it was my destiny to teach the world of Giygas' power! In Onett I was no one, yet by Giygas' side, I could rule the world!"

Ah. So it wasn't just that. The boy also felt he deserved something. "You know, Sapphire spoke a bit about you." The boy twitched. "You were annoying to be around, and no one in the town liked you, or your family. You think siding with Geygus will help make people like you?"

"_IT'S MASTER GIYGAS!"_ Pokey screamed out. He breathed out a moment to calm himself. "I've seen him in my dreams… he's promised me that everyone will see how great I am, how much… better I am than that fool Sapphire!"

"Fool? He's way cooler than you, Pekey."

"Pokey!"

"But I get it. You're jealous of him. Which is funny, because he always likes downplaying how awesome is, when he's being serious anyway. He never thought of himself as the best in anything, yet you always see yourself as less than him. And you think he also looks down on you."

"I do not! He—"

"Even right now, right?" She smiled, shaking her head. "He has amazing powers, and what do you have? A statue that does the work for you, subo… subordi…"

"Subordinates?" A security guard suggested.

"Yeah! Subordinates that do everything for you. You aren't better than him, and you're jealous, you _want _to be better than him."

"I don't need to be better than him, I-I-I already am!"

"Are you?" She lowered her voice and took a step forward, causing the guards to step forward as well, albeit more threatening ones. She ignored them, laying a hand gently on Pokey's shoulder. The boy flinched, and she just smiled. "Pokey, please… working for Giygas… he's just going to destroy the world… he won't give you anything, he won't give you the world, not even Fourside. He's using you."

"No, he's… he's not. I'm… I'm important to him, I am! I, I have value!"

"You do, Pokey. I promise you, you're important to people. You have a brother, Picky, right? He cares about you. Sapphire, he considers you an acquaintance, and when you're not being annoying, a friend. And I bet… we could be friends too. You don't need to do this to have value."

Pokey stared at her, and behind the bangs of his bull-cut, she could see his blue eyes watering, before he scowled and turned. "I… eat. Don't die before you're supposed to." He left the room, and the guard with the food placed it on the table before both guards followed, closing and locking the door.

Willow stared at it before she sat down at the table and began eating. She'd get through to him. Eventually. If Sapphire cared for him, then he could be saved too, just like everyone else. Might as well make good use of her time.

* * *

"Whoa, it's been so long, bud! Let's grab some drinks!" With that, the man guarding the tower wandered off, and the invisible man with, apparently, the connected eyebrows and golden tooth. Neither boy could figure out how the guy knew this considering neither of them could even see the invisible man's shadow but decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

After all, the journey to find the guy had taken what seemed like hours, but with no day or night cycle, it was hard to tell. After having walked more, they talked to some man standing by himself. After spouting some nonsense they suddenly felt nauseous and realized they had been teleported across the city. Realizing they could use this to their advantage, they found more people to teleport them, searching every inch of the city, until they found the invisible man, or really, he talked to them and revealed he had the facial features the man in front of the building had described.

Either way, the search was finally over. They approached the building and found that the entranceway looked the same as the one in Fourside. And even the inside of the building's lobby seemed the same, except for the fact that it was empty, dark, and there were no elevators. Instead, there was a single stairwell leading upwards. "Oh, you're kidding."

"Looks like we're taking the stairs," Anthony sighed.

"Just what I wanted to hear," Sapphire groaned, shaking his head. They made their way up the stairs, up several flights that seemed to stretch upwards forever.

"How many… more stairs… are there?"

"I don't know, the elevator went up to what floor? Forty-something? We've only gone up, like, ten stories."

"Ugh… screw your PSI enhanced Stamina…"

"Hey, man, it ain't my fault." As they reached the top of the staircase, Sapphire looked around, confused. "This is weird… there aren't any more stairs."

"There… might be other staircases." Anthony stood up straight and finally caught his breath. He pointed at a doorway and opened it, revealing a dark hallway. He turned on his light device, causing shadows to lengthen along the corridor. Both boys looked at each other and shivered. "Creepy," they said in sync.

Moonside so far had been weird, yes, and there had been an undertone of creepiness, but the mystical sights added enough of a 'wow factor' to distract them. Now, though, they were exploring what felt like an abandoned building in near-perfect darkness with only a single light source.

"Stay close," Sapphire whispered, grasping his friend's hand. The blond nodded back, and they began walking. Their footsteps echoed through the silent halls, and Sapphire felt fear clench at his heart. The dark was one of his biggest fears, and he didn't care how childish it sounded. The thought of something lurking nearby or hiding behind you, and the only reason you couldn't see it was the intense darkness before it finally jumped you… there was a reason his two main attacks were bright and flashy. Literally.

In front of him, Anthony turned to check behind them just in case something was following them, and froze. "Sapphire, one of your eyes is gold."

"What?" Sapphire reached up, before realizing one, you can't feel eye color, and two, he would not be touching his eyes because that would hurt.

"_**Whoops~ guess I got caught." **_

Sapphire gasped and grasped his head, hearing the voice ring out. He'd heard it in his memories of the department store, but it was different now, he was hearing it talk to him inside his head. "Get out of me!"

"Sapphire!"

"_**Hmm… Nah, it's roomy in here! And in case you're too dumb to realize, I was insulting your intelligence."**_

"Why are you here?!"

"Sapphire, you have to calm down!"

"_**Oh come on, even you could figure this out! You're the one that's been panicking this whole time!"**_

"Sapphire!" Anthony grabbed Sapphire and shook him. "Focus on me!"

"I—"

"Tell me about your sister! Tracey, right? What's she like?"

"She's… she's always energetic, like Willow. Whenever I had a baseball game she'd make to always be there, even if she had classes or something at the same time." He laughed, eyes defocusing as he remembered. "I remember one time that my dad was in Onett, our parents found out she'd ditched a class to watch one of my games. While mom was telling her off, dad just stood there behind her with a dumb grin and two thumbs up."

"Yeah? Did she do it again?"

"Duh, of course. The very next game." He grinned, and Anthony watched as Sapphire's eye turned back to its dark brown color. "You know she's into baking? Mom teaches her, and she loves making cookies… those are my favorite, Tracey's cookies…"

"How about we head back to Onett after we get Willow back and destroy the statue, you can see your sister again."

"Yeah. That sounds good."

They were silent for a moment, and Anthony smirked as he pat Sapphire on the cheek. "Feeling any better?"

"I…" he thought, and couldn't hear anything. "Yeah. It's gone."

"Good." They went back to walking, as the blond thought out loud. "It should have been obvious to me, I don't know how I didn't see it, but fear is quite obviously a negative emotion. By being afraid, Nightmare began to get out, and when you realized this you became more afraid."

"So… what, it's like a, uh…"

"A feedback loop. Or a negative feedback loop, to be precise. You feel fear from something, Nightmare begins coming out. You feel fear that Nightmare will get out, Nightmare breaks out even more. You feel fear that Nightmare will hurt me or Willow, et cetera, et cetera. Honestly, this can happen with any of your negative emotions, but I suppose it's easiest to see with your fear."

"Great, so even if it doesn't get out fully, there's still a chance that Nightmare will get out just from me panicking. Just great." At the end of the corridor was a door, through which was… "great, more hallway."

This one had some paintings on the walls, but it was hard to see what was painted on them in the dark. Halfway through the hallway they heard a rustling noise and stood back to back. "Enemies?"

"Most likely." Anthony got out his gun while Sapphire grabbed his bat. As they waited for whatever made the noise to show itself, Sapphire suddenly felt something bash him in the head.

"Ow!" He turned and saw a floating piece of artwork. "Oh, you're joking." It flew forward, and he smacked it aside with his bat.

"Living artwork? I suppose it's about as weird as anything else in this world," Anthony muttered. He took aim and fired, his laser easily blasting through the artwork. A second later it caught fire from the heat and fell to the ground. Two more pieces of art trembled before flying from their resting places, and Anthony easily shot them down as well.

Behind them, a clock on the wall began melting, before it flew towards Sapphire. He prepared to attack—

Thuuuum, tick, tick, tiiick, tiiiiiickkk…

—only to smash through a set of doors before he could even wind up. "Goddamn time-stopping clocks…" he grabbed his slingshot and loaded a pellet, sniping the clock as it ticked and tocked, preparing to attack Anthony as he was frozen in time. The clock shuddered as its hands twitched, letting Sapphire close in and _smash _it to pieces.

A second clock attempted to attack, but Sapphire managed to bash it away before it could stop time. Humorously enough, it ripped through a painting, replacing the head of a muscular man with blond hair. The clock let off a 'WRRRRRYYYY' noise before Anthony blasted it with his gun. "No. Enough of that."

More and more clocks and paintings began flying off of the walls, and Anthony winced as a painting nicked his arm. "We're going to get overwhelmed without your Photokinesis!"

"Shit!" Sapphire grabbed the boy and began running, shouldering through a doorway. Behind him Anthony lit a stick of dynamite and tossed it, letting it explode and kill several of their pursuers. They crashed through what looked to be a large room filled with cubicles, and Sapphire dove for one while dragging Anthony down.

Their enemies spread out, searching for them. "We'll have to sneak out," Sapphire whispered. "Without my main PSI ability, we can't take large groups of enemies like this."

"I concur. Lead the way." Sapphire nodded and poked his head around the cubicle to check if any of the things enemies were nearby. Seeing none, he began sneaking close to the ground, staying in a crouch so his head didn't pop up above any cubicles. Anthony followed close behind, turning off his light so they wouldn't be seen.

A painting floated across their path and Sapphire quickly bashed it into the ground before it could see them and raise the alarm. He poked his head around a corner to check if anything was looking for him and dashed forward to another piece of cover. He spotted a clock stuttering across the open space between cubicles and held up a hand, and once the clock disappeared he waved Anthony forward.

They continued like this through the large room, taking out only enemies that they couldn't avoid. They eventually reached the opposite side of the room of where they'd entered and snuck through the doorway they'd found. On the opposite side was another set of staircases, leading further upward. "Oh, you're kidding."

"It seems we have much more climbing to do."

"Yeah, well, enhanced stamina doesn't make climbing stairs any more fun it just makes it easier." He sighed and rolled his head. "Come on, let's get going." They once again began climbing, floor after floor. After another ten floors, the staircase ended, with only two other doors standing in their way.

Sapphire opened one to reveal another hallway, while the other revealed a small room with just a table and two couches. "Perhaps we should rest before continuing."

"I don't know, I want to find Willow as fast as I can…" Sapphire looked upwards, trying to see through the floors above them, imagining the statue, high above them. They were so close, but so far…

"Sapphire, even if we get to it within the next thirty minutes, you'll be exhausted even with your enhanced stamina and strength. And you'll need that without your Hope attack. Besides that, I'd be completely worn out trying to keep up with you. We _need_ to rest.

"Yeah, I guess you're right.." They entered the room and each sat down on a couch. Anthony lay down fully, while Sapphire just intertwined his fingers and watched the door.

"You should rest your eyes. Nap, at least. We've been up for several hours at this point."

"I'm fine… you sleep. I'll watch in case anything tried to get in."

"Hm… as long as you wake me when you tire. I'll watch from then on."

"Right." Anthony quickly closed his eyes and fell asleep, while he kept watching. Thirty minutes passed, which turned into an hour, which turned into two. Throughout it Anthony didn't even stir, having hidden his exhaustion so far rather well. Sapphire alternated between being on lookout, glancing at Anthony, and attempting to contact Willow.

What was so infuriating, however, was that he couldn't. Willow never taught him how she'd talked with him over such a long distance, only telling him how he'd be used as a 'signal booster.' He growled and gripped his hat, pulling it down hard. Everything had gone wrong. He should have just told them right from the start What his vision had been. But he'd been so scared.

Monsters could be scary, depending on what they looked like, but battle wasn't. He knew how it went. Dying… yes, he was a bit scared, but everyone was scared of that. No, his greatest fear was losing people he cared for. He wasn't sure when he'd first developed the fear, but he supposed it had been when he had first been old enough to notice his father leaving for a long time. And even though he eventually came back, the fear in the back of his head that the man might not ever come back eventually blossomed into a fear of losing people in general.

Every day he walked Tracey to school, and after he'd left he'd sent his bat back to the girl to protect her. His friends from Onett, when they spent time playing in their clubhouse, he always wanted to know where they were going and for how long whenever they left. And now he had two lifelong friends, one who he loved as an annoying brother, and the other as a little sister. And he'd let her down, he lost her.

"_**Poor little Sapphire. Should I spoil that that's how your whole life will be? A slave to your fate?"**_

Sapphire's eyes shot open before he shook his head. "Keep calm… if I get more scared, it gets out, if I get _angrier _it gets out… just stay calm."

"_**Fast learner, ain't ya?" **_Laughter echoed in his head. "_**I mean, I knew that one already. I know everything about us! Also, can you not call me an It? I'm a dude too, ya know. I have a di—"**_

"Okay, enough! W**hat do you wa**nt?!" Anthony turned over in his sleep, and Sapphire quickly lowered his voice with a growl. "Besides annoying me."

"_**Hey, if annoying you gets me out of this insane asylum that's the inside of your head, then annoying you is what I'll do."**_

"I didn't ask for you to be i**n my head, asshole." **He shook his head, grasping at it. Calm down. Calm down. Don't let it… him, get loose.

He heard a scoff in his head. "_**Aren't you supposed to be thirteen? Get angry! Come on!" **_His vision swam, and what looked to be him appeared in front of him. Nightmare laughed and twirled, throwing his head back. "_**You kids are supposed to get angry at the silliest things!"**_

"I can't afford to do that…" he shook his head. "You're in my head, you know just how badly I want to rage and scream and cry but I won't. I shove it down, and I won't let it get out, because I refuse to let you do anything." He opened his eyes, and Nightmare lifted an eyebrow at how much determination was in them. Yeah, a bit of a hindrance for him, but it was pretty admirable.

"As long as I breathe, you won't do anything. As long as I can Hope for the future of this world, one without Giygas or his minions hurting innocent people…" Sapphire didn't notice it himself, but his eyes flashed. But not blue, yellow, and red, instead, they flashed blue, silver, and red. "As long as I stay Determined to protect _everyone_ you will accomplish _nothing. _I swear it."

Nightmare scoffed. "_**Yeah yeah, big heroic speech, I know. I remember watching all those heroic movies with Tracey, you know."**_

"Too cheesy? Sorry, but those movies always made me feel better. And the better I feel, the farther down I shove you until you're gone." Nightmare blinked, realizing Sapphire's mood had lightened. He was slowly being shoved back into the depths of Sapphire's psyche.

"_**Ha! Nice, kid. But you know that emotions shoved down will eventually explode out. Moonside won't be our last battle. See you soon, in person, Sapphy~"**_ as he spoke, Sapphire watched as the hallucination slowly faded, along with his voice lowering in volume.

"…so what was that about?" Sapphire jumped, his head shooting to the side to see Anthony rubbing his eyes and looking at him.

"Uh…"

"If it weren't for your Psionic abilities, I'd say talking to yourself is one of the weirder things I've seen."

"Sorry… it's just… Nightmare. Kind of just had… a psychological battle? Or something?"

"Hm. I suppose you'd be somewhat even in one of those. If he has all of your memories and knows everything that you do, a psychological battle between you two would just be… I don't know, the most you'd know about psychology would be from movies so you'd both be just yelling 'give up because the power of evil shall win' and 'as long as I have people I love nothing will stop my justice.'

"…wow that was pretty much our whole talk."

"I'm a genius, remember?" Anthony narrowed his eyes. "In any case, what time is it? Well, time doesn't matter here… how long was I asleep?"

"Uh… enough time?"

"So several hours."

"Yeah."

"Then rest. I'll keep watch." Sapphire attempted to protest, but Anthony shut him down. "Sapphire. Sapph. You need to rest."

"Ant… every moment that I waste… who knows what happens to Willow?"

"Then why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"You needed rest…"

"And you don't? You wanted me to be okay because you care, but you also want Willow to be okay. I bed you to realize that Willow… and I care about you. If she were here she'd be forcing you to rest, and I will soon."

Sapphire just rubbed at his forehead. "Alright, alright. Fine. I'll rest." Sapphire lay down on his couch and sighed, "just… wake me up soon."

"Time is relative."

"Screw you." Sleep swiftly claimed him, though not rest.

**Ω**

"What the hell's going on here?" Sapphire turned, looking around. He looked around, seeing nothing.

"S…hire?"

"Eh? Willow! Willow, where are you?!"

"Sapphire…" there was a shimmer in front of him, a pink object. "Did I get through?"

"Yeah! I'm here!"

"Oh, goodie! First, it was Nightmare, then for some reason, I just couldn't get through to Anthony, then to you, but here I am now!"

"Wait, what do you mean, Nightmare? And you couldn't get through? Did Nightmare do something to you?! I sw**ear t**o god…"

"Nah, I'm fine!" The blob of pink slowly formed into Willow, although she was blurry and hard to make out. "Wherever you are, something is blocking me from communicating with your mind. And besides that, Nightmare prevented me from trying earlier when you were awake. It's weaker now though because he didn't try anything."

"I did just kind of push him down a bit ago… he could have been weak enough that you could talk with me?"

"Eh, maybe!"

"…so, where are you? Are you alright?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine! I'm in Monotoli's building, I think high up. Pokey came to see me a few hours ago," she saw Sapphire twitch, "but don't worry, we just talked."

"He didn't do anything? Hurt you, threaten you?" When she opened her mouth but didn't say anything, thinking about it, Sapphire narrowed his eyes. "Willow…"

"Alright, fine, he said something about how I shouldn't die before it's time, so I'm guessing it'll be another sacrifice thing like in Happy-Happy, but I'm sure you'll get here in time to save me." Sapphire blew air through his lips in frustration, rubbing his eyes. "Besides that, he was mostly talking about how it was his destiny to be known by the world and he would be better than you."

"Better than me?"

"Yeah, he has a pretty bad… um… what's that disorder thing? Where you think that others look down on you? Some kind of paranoid thing… he thought he didn't have any value, he _wanted _value."

"He has something like that?" Sapphire rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "I… Alright, what am I supposed to glean from that?"

"That he can be saved."

"Wait, don't tell me—"

"Yep! I'm going to be saving him, while you save me!"

"Willow, no. Don't spend any more time with him than you have to, what if he decides to just have you killed because he thinks you'll try something?!"

"Sapphy, please. Who knows how long I'll be here? Besides, why is Pokey any less worthy of being saved than someone else?"

"I… Willow, I just…" he groaned. "Just stay safe, okay? Please?"

"I will. Pinky promise!"

"Pinky promise." He smiled, and they wrapped their fingers around each other. They grinned at each other before Sapphire felt dizzy a moment.

"Looks like your waking up." Willow opened her mouth, seeming like she was going to ask, or say something, before deciding not to as she blushed. "You stay safe as well."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow, before nodding. She suddenly hugged him, and he fell back a step. "Whoa! Ha, alright, touchy today." He hugged her back before he felt himself start to wake up.

"See ya."

**Ω**

* * *

"It's through here?"

"I can feel it." Sapphire curled his fists, looking at the double doors between them and their final challenge in Moonside. "It's like this sickly feeling… it's also something dangerous, just like how I feel when Nightmare comes out."

"If Nightmare was made by the by the Mani-Mani it would be easy to assume that they would have the same aura."

The journey up the rest of the tower had gotten harder as they went. They got more and more exhausted as they went up, but luckily the tower got thinner as they went higher, traversing across floors and sneaking around got easier as they went.

And the higher and higher they traveled, the sicker Sapphire felt, and the heavier the horrible feeling in the back of his head felt. And the harder it became to keep Nightmare down. Small annoyances like missing an attack were enough to bring up enough anger that Nightmare could surface for a few moments before Sapphire forced him back down.

The closer they got to the statue, the more warped his mind became, along with the world. They had finally reached the top, through those doors were the rooftop and the statue. Sapphire sighed, before kicking open the doors.

The exit onto the rooftop came out of the bottom of the tower's twisting spire, and the whole roof was empty except for the railing around the edges and the golden statue seemingly watching the doors while a man wiped the statue down.

Anthony made sure his gun was charged, while Sapphire swung his bat lazily with one hand. The man turned and stumbled as he saw them. "Hey, I hope you know that that statue's dangerous."

"Yes, I would suggest stepping away from the object, unless you want to be defeated as well."

The man moved back, sweating nervously. "No, you can't take it from me… it gives me strength!"

Sapphire narrowed his gaze. "You… you're Monotoli then? You've got some things to answer for." He smacked his bat against his palm before pointing it at the man. "You gave the order to kidnap my friend. You've got Willow somewhere up in that tower of yours. I thi**nk it's a**bout time for a b**it of pa**yback."

Anthony placed his hand on Sapphire's shoulder, glancing at him. "Calm down. This isn't even the real Monotoli if you'll recall." He glared at the statue and hummed. "Now, I'm assuming if we destroy that statue, we'll be able to get out of here."

"_**Come on, why smash such a beautiful statue? I think it looks rather handsome! Ooh, when we finally fight should I go as my original form of the statue or this form?"**_

Sapphire ignored the voice and nodded. "Alright." He let some PSI energy flow into his eyes to make them flash blue. "Monotoli, move it before I bash your face in. Fake or not."

"N-no, don't do anything to me! I'm… I'm not Monotoli!" The man clutched his head, before vanishing.

"Where'd he go?!"

"Sapphire, it's a literal world of chaos, let's not focus on that." The statue in front of them suddenly rumbled. The eyeholes of the statue suddenly glowed gold, and the golden sheen along the rest of the statue suddenly began changing, becoming a purple color that shifted all along the statue.

"_**Uh-oh, battle time! I would probably have a damn rockin' theme, don't you think?"**_

"Shut up already. Anthony, get back, onto the spire. Stay up there and fight from a distance, I'll take it up close." He ran forward and wound up, bashing the statue in the side. Small cracks formed, before the statue's eyes flashed again and a wave of cold shot forward. Sapphire jumped to the side to dodge, letting the ice freeze parts of the roof.

A beam of energy shot past suddenly, emitted from Anthony's gun. The statue wobbled, before suddenly vanishing with a flare of light before it could completely topple over. "Whoa!"

"_**C'mon dude, you think it'll be as easy as knocking it over?"**_

"Shu**t u**p already!"

"_**Jeez, touchy."**_

"Sapphire, I assume you're speaking to Nightmare, but ignore him! Mani-Mani at three-o'-clock!" Sapphire spun and watched as the statue launched several bolts of electricity, which Sapphire scrambled to dodge. One bolt grazed him, but the rest slammed harmlessly into the roof. The eyes of the statue flashed once again, before a wave of energy eerily similar to Sapphire's Hope's blasted out, sending Sapphire tumbling away.

"Fuck!" He rolled over and grasped his stomach, pulling out a shard of concrete that had been blasted away along with him. "Lifeup α!" His wound healed, and he rolled onto his feet. "The hell was that? Ant, it felt like my Hope, except a bit different, but I didn't see much before I was blasted away. Was it…?"

"Yeah, It had the color scheme of your signature attack."

"And it used Freeze and Thunder, which are Willow's moves! This thing is plagiarizing us!"

"_**Imitation **_**is **_**the most sincere form of flattery."**_

"God, would y**ou just shut the fuck up already?!" **

Anthony, meanwhile, tried to use his PSi neutralization device. When nothing happened, he groaned and slumped forward. His eyes then widened as he saw the Statue glow orange. "Sapphire!" The boy spun just in time to see a massive wave of orange electricity wash over the rooftop, one similar to his Paralysis PSI but on a massive scale. He cried out as his body seized up, becoming paralyzed.

Anthony aimed down his gun's sights and fired, drawing the statue's attention away from his paralyzed teammate. The statue glowed and sent forth a wave of fire, causing Anthony to duck behind the tower spire. The fire washed by before Anthony grabbed a Bottle Rocket and blasting it out as he rolled back into the open. The statue fell back and cracked further before it teleported once again. Anthony looked around for where it went before he cried out as a cold beam turned his arm to ice.

"PSI He-Healing α!" Sapphire sighed as he was able to move again, before turning to see the statue preparing to freeze Anthony with another beam. Sapphire quickly kicked up a rock and wound up, before _smashing _it away with his bat. It slammed into the Mani-Mani's head, causing one of the horns to completely snap off, and drew its attention back to him. "Eyes over here!" He grabbed another rock and wound up, blasting it towards the statue.

Mani-Mani let loose another attack that looked like his Hope attack, obliterating the stone before it reached it, and tearing up the roof as it neared him. Sapphire grit his teeth and dug his feet into the ground, crying out as the explosive attack washed over him. "No, look over here!" Anthony's voice rang out and the attack stopped as the blond blasted the statue again.

The statue glowed and an explosion of light washed over the rooftop, causing the two Chosen to cry out as they were blinded. Sapphire stumbled to his feet, reaching for something to grab on to and reorient himself. "Healing α!" he blinked away the tears, before looking towards Anthony, and watched as a blast of Hope-like energy neared Anthony.

"NO!" Sapphire reached out and winced as pain shot through his mind from using his telekinesis on a person. Anthony was pulled from where he stood and tumbled across the ground, before the blue aura around him faded and he skid to a stop. "S… Sorry…"

"Yeah… ow." Anthony got up slowly before Sapphire healed him. "Thanks." They turned and saw the statue suddenly warp in front of them, light beginning to emanate from the various cracks on its body. "Something big is coming."

"Get behind me," Sapphire warned, stepping forward. Energy crackled around the statue, and its eyes began flashing through Hope's trio of colors. "Oh boy." A pulse of power washed over them, followed by another, then another. Sapphire grit his teeth as his feet began scraping along the ground, as the pulses got stronger and stronger.

"_**Here comes the big one~ Kaboom!" **_

A final pulse rang out, continuous, washing over the rooftop, then echoing out further, encompassing Moonside. Sapphire screamed as his skin burned and his mind ached, the psionic attack chipping away at him mentally and physically. The building around them began crumbling, while Moonside began disintegrating, the fake people screaming and the twisted streets collapsing as the statue's attack obliterated the mirror world.

"I can't…" Sapphire grit his teeth as he fell to one knee, struggling to keep himself from collapsing backward and succumbing fully. He suddenly felt hands on his back, Anthony pushing him, keeping him up. This boy, with no powers at all, stood strong, while he collapsed.

"Yes, you can!" Anthony roared, pushing harder. "I believe in you!"

Well, how could he disappoint him after hearing that? He slowly stood up, letting out a growl that transitioned to a roar as he pushed against the PSI. His eyes flashed as PSI roared through his body, mixing with his adrenaline, pushing past his limits. Even if he Hoped to save the world, it was worthless without the Determination to follow through.

"_We all believe in you!" _A phantom of Willow appeared to his left, grasping his hand and pointing forward.

"_Now, you must simply believe in yourself as well." _To his right, a second phantom appeared. It was someone he didn't recognize, dressed in a martial arts gi and with his black hair in a tight ponytail.

"You're our leader…"

"_...your powers have grown this whole journey…"_

"_...So let loose, Master. Show our enemies what a Chosen can do. What _we _can do."_

"Right!" His body let off its own pulse, counteracting the Mani-Mani's, creating a small sphere where there was no pressure nor pain. The statue glowed brighter as it pushed harder, the power it was letting off crushing the sphere he'd created. "Sorry, but this is the end for you! You won't be corrupting anyone else, I refuse to allow it! Not when I have my friends counting on me!"

He roared and felt the energy flowing through him crescendo, his veins visibly glowing with light, while even more energy poured from his orifices. "PSI Determined Purification!" His sphere slowly expanded, growing and pushing back the statue's. Eventually, two walls of energy were pushing back and forth, each covering half of the sphere that was Moonside. The Mani-Mani's a black as deep as space and red as pure as blood, and his own silver as bright as a star and blue as pure as perfect sapphires.

The statue visibly shuddered as it began shattering further, along with the world of Moonside. "Release us from this da**mn illusion!" **His eyes grew wide, one silver, one gold, as for a single moment, his mind connected with Nightmare and his true potential was summoned. While by no means were Sapphire and Nightmare working together, he had unconsciously combined their two most powerful traits, Nightmare's determination, even if it was to kill him, and his own hope. "**Feel my true power!" **Gold and red mixed with the blue and silver that was emanating from him, and overpowered the Mani-Mani. "**As I reject **_**your**_ **power!" **

The statue finally disintegrated, Sapphire's ultimate attack completely overpowering the statue and bursting through its wall of power, before washing over the rest of Moonside. The illusion world around them crumbled, the odd gravity disappearing and falling inwards towards the center of the world, the rooftop of the tower.

But Sapphire didn't worry about any of that, instead falling to his knees from how much energy he'd used up. "I… need some sleep…"

"I'd worry more about being crushed to death," Anthony warned, significantly more worried. But before reality fully caved inwards, a bright light shone from the remains of the statue, and the two Chosen were blinded for a brief moment, before becoming knocked out.

They awoke a moment later, groaning. "Awww my everything hurts…" Sapphire slowly got up and looked around. They were in a storage room, the only things inside of it being several boxes and… "No way." In front of them lay the remains of the Mani-Mani. Sapphire looked around again and noticed that the walls and several boxes had burn marks, which he attributed to whatever PSI he was throwing about.

"I assumed that Moonside was some kind of illusion world," Anthony mumbled, "But were we truly just inside of this storeroom the whole time?"

"I guess." Sapphire wandered over towards a door and opened it, to reveal the inside of Jackie's cafe, with the doorway being behind the counter.

"So when we tried to investigate, we got caught up in the Mani's illusion," Anthony hummed. "I'm surprised no one heard us in there, we were in there for several hours after all."

Sapphire just grinned. "That doesn't matter. What matters is the Mani-Mani is destroyed, and we'll be getting Willow back."

"How? Can you use Hope again?"

"No. But… I've just got a feeling." He grinned and twirled his bat, Determination rushing through his veins and lighting them up. "We'll save her. Soon."

"By the way… 'Feel my true power, as I reject your power?' Enough with the action movie scripts."

"Oh shut up."

High above them, Willow smiled as she lay in bed and watched the ceiling. She felt it.

Her friends would soon be on their way.

* * *

_**ZA WARUDO!**_

_**Star Platinum: The World! **_

***cue two large, muscular men having their spirits slap each other.***

**Alright, obligatory JoJo reference done. I thought about making it more obvious than it already was in the chapter 'cause I love JJBA but that might've taken away from the flow. **

**Not sure if I made Moonside a bit too short, but I feel like I got the spectacle of when you first arrive in, plus the confusion at just how weird it is and fourth wall break-y, so I feel it was alright. **

**Ah, and Pokey. Even if he keeps acting like an ass after the statue is stopped both times, I feel like nobody really writes their characters as trying to help him. I mean, the statue, canonically, is buried **_**really **_**close to his house. It could have been influencing him his whole life, just not that noticeable since it was underground. Whether I redeem him or not only I know for sure, but I feel like that would be an interesting thing to read about, a redeeming story. I mean, it would mean Mother 3 doesn't occur, but still.**

**By the way, since my first day of college was today, making chapters might be a bit slower. I have 19 and 20 done, so I can release them next week and the week after that, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with that weekly thing, who knows. **

**Anyway, leave a review on what you liked, or just a 'nice.' **

**See y'all next time.**


	19. Chapter 19: The Big City's Too Big

Chapter Nineteen: The Big City's Too Big

"So, your instincts are saying storm the tower?" Anthony questioned dryly.

"Sure, why not?" Sapphire smirked and slammed his fists together. "I'd say she's been kidnapped long enough. With the Mani-Mani destroyed, Monotoli should have been released from its hold, and he should be telling his guards to stand down. We could probably see him right now without having to fight anyone."

"Well, it's a good idea, but your instincts are forgetting something. The elevator up to Monotoli is out of service."

"Oh… whoops." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "So what do we do?"

His question was answered when a monkey slammed into the building next to them and exploded. "Crap!" The monkey got up and shook itself, throwing off a layer of ash. "Are you alright?"

(Yes, thank you for asking.) The monkey tilted its head, before shrugging. (I can't remember if we've met, but Talah Rama has just finished fasting and requested to meet you.)

"Oh yeah, that's the guy in the desert, right? What do you think Anthony?"

"Considering I understood none of that, I have no idea. However, with Monotoli's elevator out of service, we might as well go and see this man."

"Yeah, fair." He turned back to the monkey, only to blink. "Uh, where'd he go?"

"I didn't see him leave, don't ask me."

"Huh. Alright, whatever. At least now we can grab a bus and we won't have to walk the whole way back through the desert."

"That is true." Anthony looked up and frowned. "However, we should get some rest first. You didn't exactly sleep while in Moonside since that nap you took was only a short while, and since we spent so long in there it's nearing night."

"Right." They made their way towards a hotel, Sapphire glancing back up at Monotoli's tower every once in a while, clenching his fists. Almost…

* * *

"God, I forgot how hot it was here…"

"I'm from Winters, I have it worse than you," Anthony grumbled.

"Oh whatever, man." They made their way over the dunes, attempting to find the hole in the ground that the monkey had told them about when they'd first entered the desert. "There were some boulders nearby, weren't there?"

"I believe so, yes." A smiling sphere in the distance flew close, and Sapphire quickly wound up before batting it away. It sped into the distance before combusting midair as Anthony sniped it. "An excellent shot by yours truly."

"I think the heat's getting to your head, your starting to become all holier than thou," Sapphire smirked.

"Bite me."

"Be thankful I'm not Willow, you know she'd take that as a challenge."

"Heaven's forbid." They eventually found the hole in the ground after half an hour of wandering and climbed down the ladder. At the bottom was a tunnel leading into darkness, which Anthony lit up with his device.

Traversing the underground was annoying, with the tunnels twisting into each other and seemingly going on for miles. But, eventually, they reached the end. They entered into a room with light flowing into it from small holes in the ceiling, revealing a man wearing white robes, with a long white beard.

"…is he floating?" Sapphire questioned.

"I believe he is," Anthony blinked.

They approached him, and he opened his grey eyes to look at them. "The truth of Space and Time moves through the universe like a wave…"

"Uhh…"

"Truth speaks through space and matter and makes itself known to humans."

"I see," Anthony spoke, his voice and expression clearly showing his non-understanding.

"Our meeting was foretold by destiny, and here you are. In truth, all is predetermined… Sapphire, Willow, Anthony, Noct. When these four powers have gathered, twisted space shall bring back peace to the world. Do you understand?"

"I… think I do. So this Noct guy is our next teammate. But I don't think everything is predetermined. People can change their destinies and fates."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Believe what you wish. Anthony, do take the items in the boxes behind me. Sapphire, as he does so, I shall teach you a new power. It shall allow you to transcend space, and visit anywhere you have been in your journey."

"That sounds handy."

"Indeed. Your friend will meet us outside, now come." There was a flash of light and suddenly they stood on the highway outside the desert.

"Holy crap!"

"My experience and power let me teleport at will. You require the most basic version." Talah Rama stopped floating and stood on the road, turning towards Fourside. "Fourside is miles away, half a day's journey by foot. But by teleport, it shall be instant."

"Alright, how do we start?"

"You already know how to use it, but the ability is locked in your psyche. I shall demonstrate, and by doing so your mind will unlock the ability. Stand behind me." Sapphire did so and watched as energy began surrounding the man. "The ability requires the user to think of the destination and begin running. By surrounding yourself in a massive amount of psionic energy, you warp space-time and instantly transport to where you must be."

"So like a wormhole? We're taking two points on opposite sides of a piece of paper and folding the paper so the points are on top of each other." When Talah Rama looked at him surprised, he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm not very smart, but I love space…"

"…that is a very good explanation. Yes, like a wormhole." The man began running, and Sapphire quickly followed. The PSI around Talah Rama flowed back like a jetstream, surrounding Sapphire as well. Through the cylinder of energy around them, Sapphire could see the world warp as they traveled at speeds rivaling that of a car before they slowed down and they were all of a sudden in Fourside. "We have arrived."

"H-holy shit." Sapphire looked around. He spotted the hotel they'd stayed at, and several streets he recognized from Moonside, although less distorted.

"Now, take us back. Listen to your instincts and lead us. Do not worry, your PSI will funnel back like my own did, covering any followers, safely transporting them as well."

"Right. Um, could I hold your hand? Just in case? I don't want to accidentally kill you by having you fall through some kind of PSI vortex…"

He chuckled, "I doubt you could accidentally kill me, at least in this point of your journey, but very well." Sapphire reached back and grasped his hand, before sighing and closing his eyes.

"Here we go…" he pulled up energy from his internal pool of PSI, feeling it flow through his body. He glowed as it traversed his veins before he pulled out even more, causing it to emanate from his body just as it did Talah Rama's. He began jogging, then running, then full-on sprinting as his energy flowed out behind him like he was a jet breaking the sound barrier. His eyes flashed as he heard the sound of a lock snapping, "PSI Teleport α!"

A moment later and reality warped, and suddenly they were on the highway outside the monkey cave. Talah Rama easily transitioned from his run into a calm walk, while Sapphire tried to skid to a stop, but only succeeded in tumbling end over end and falling on his face. "Ah, shit!"

"Yes, that is something you should get used to…"

"Right…" he got up and smiled. "Thanks, Talah Rama."

"Of course. Now, once you go back, rest until the morrow. You will be able to reach your comrade then."

"Really? How do you know?"

"I have trained my psionic potential for many turnings of the seasons. My foresight is far more powerful than your own." The man snapped his fingers and Anthony appeared, looking around in shock. "Now then, good luck, Sapphire, Leader of the Chosen Four."

"Wow, now that's a title. I like it."

"Farewell, Anthony, Genius of the Chosen Four."

"How the bloody hell did I get here?" And with that, Talah Rama snapped his fingers and disappeared. Anthony just shook his head, before turning to Sapphire. "So, what, pray tell, did he teach you?"

"Prepare to worship me as a god, bro."

"It seems the heat's finally gotten to you."

"Alright— screw you, just grab my hand." The honey blond just smirked and grasped his leader's outstretched hand. "Alright… PSI Teleport α!" And just like with Talah Rama, the world warped before they were in Fourside.

"What… how?"

"PSI, baby." Sapphire suddenly stumbled and held his head. "Whoa… that takes a lot out of me, I guess. Good thing we'll be resting up, for now."

Anthony just hummed to himself as he thought about how the teleporting trick could work. "It seems more like Einstein-Rosen bridges, linking two points in space-time together to—"

"Okay, I get some astronomy stuff, but you're making my head spin. Just call it wormholes."

"You just don't appreciate my genius."

"Oh boy, here we go again…"

* * *

"Son of a... why won't you die?!" Sapphire swung his bat again, sending the robot he was fighting flying through the air before it crashed into a wall. Yet somehow it got back up and ran at him, flailing its arms.

After resting up the two Chosen had gone to the Monotoli building and immediately made their way upwards. The previously unusable elevator was in perfect working order, which allowed them to reach one floor higher. Sapphire, of course, was pissed that they had literally been one floor away from rescuing Willow, but decided to let it go.

Nightmare hadn't resurfaced or even spoken since destroying the Mani-Mani, so while Sapphire hoped the creature was gone for good, Anthony theorized that it was simply much weaker without the statue around, and would need tremendously powerful emotions to resurface, unlike in Four and Moonside where slight peeves would get it speaking. Sapphire reluctantly agreed, knowing better to become complacent, and instead hoped it was gone while preparing for if it wasn't.

After going up to the forty-eighth floor, they were greeted with several sentry robots that attempted to kick them out by firing rockets at them, but they managed to destroy them all and force their way across the floor.

Eventually, however, they reached the small robot they were currently fighting, which just didn't.

Bam!

Seem.

Pow!

To _die. _

He wound up and _smashed _it away, where it bounced off the ceiling and into a cabinet. And once again, it got right back up and charged at him. Anthony sniped it from the opposite side of the hallway, causing it to trip before it scrambled up and struck at Sapphire.

The most annoying part was that it was doing _nothing. _Every time it hit him, he barely felt it. Hell, most of the time it tripped over its own feet when attempting to attack, causing it to tumble past him. It could have been considered cute if it weren't such a pain in his fuc—

"Duck!" Sapphire quickly did so, and a laser blasted over his cap and pierced the robot. But once again, it simply stood back up. "What kind of material is it made of, where my laser cannot simply cut through it?!"

"God, I'm gettin' pissed off here!" Another swing, and this time there _was _a crack, but it was in his bat. "Oh— are you kidding me?!"

The robot let out a beep, before attempting to fire a beam at him. He dodged out of the way, before blasting it with a Paralysis alpha. It stuttered, before going right back to attacking him. "Oh, you've… Anthony! Ideas?!"

"None!"

"Damn…" the robot beeped again, but before anything happened, five people burst into the room. "What?" Sapphire turned, and blinked, realizing it was the Runaway Five. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"We had a dream, or somethin' like it telling us we were needed up here!" One of the members ran behind the robot, before touching something on its back. The robot let out a hissing noise before it powered down.

Another member grinned, adjusting his cap. "We'd like ta help ya out, in whatever way we can."

"That's nice, but how did you deactivate it?" Anthony questioned. He hunkered down, and Sapphire joined him, to see what looked to be a light switch on the robot's back. "Oh, you're joking."

"Seriously?" Sapphire sighed and shook his head. "Whatever, it worked. Come on," he moved towards the doors at the back of the room, before grinning at the band members. "Thanks, guys."

"No problem."

Sapphire turned to the doors. He felt it. On the other side was Willow's PSI energy. Along with presumably Monotoli. He reared back and kicked down the doors, his PSI enhanced strength sending them flying off their hinges, along with wood splinters where his kick had shattered them.

On the other side, the man he recognized from Moonside, the one who had been polishing or worshiping or whatever-ing the Mani-Amani whimpered and took a step back. "W-w-wait!" The man fell back, almost tripping over a couch. "Please, stop!"

"Sure. After you show us where Willow is," Sapphire grinned. His smile had warmth, but his eyes looked very cold to Monotoli.

"I-of course, here!" He got up and practically sprinted towards a nearby door. He got out a key and fumbled for a moment before he managed to unlock it, revealing a small bedroom area. Willow was sitting on the bed, kicking her legs as she stared at a wall before she heard the door unlock.

She immediately beamed, jumping from the bed and tackling the two boys. "Sapphy, Anty! You're here!"

"Congratulations, you have eyes," Anthony snarked, before snickering. "Are you alright?"

"Yep! Never better! It was just boring, the only things that happened were guards bringing me food and Pokey attempting to sound cool."

"About that," Sapphire started, raising a brow. "Did he do anything?"

"Hm? No, not really. His guards got fidgety whenever I tried to talk sense into him by getting close, but nothing else."

"Alright."

"That's good," Sapphire and Anthony both spoke, nodding. With that settled, Sapphire turned to Monotoli, who was watching them nervously.

"So, how much of what you did was the Mani-Mani?"

"A-all of it! I…" He sighed, seeming to lose all of his energy, even the energy that was keeping him afraid. "I wanted power, and the statue granted it… but then it made me do so many horrible things… I'm truly sorry for everything I've done, and kidnapping Willow."

Sapphire just took his hat off and combed his hand through his hair as he let out a mirthless laugh. "You should be glad that I let the last guy controlled by the statue go. Whatever, but I better not hear about you doing anything else to cause trouble."

"Thank you…"

"Before you leave," Anthony interrupted, "do you know anything about how the statue works? We were trapped in some kind of mirror world called Moonside for a while so I assumed that perhaps it traps people in illusions, but that wouldn't explain everyone acting darker around it, along with this Nightmare creature that said it was 'Sapphire's negativity.'"

"You're very perceptive." Monotoli nodded, sitting down on his couch heavily like he was a puppet without its strings. "While the statue creates an illusion, it also attracts evil spirits and weakens your heart. While I was trapped in the illusion I thought I was doing kind things, but instead… well.

"In your case, I would assume that the statue simply deemed you too dangerous, and aimed to have you killed, which is why it put you in this 'Moonside' you speak of. Your minds were too strong, even yours, Anthony, though you were not PSI sensitive, to have been controlled. I believe that even in my brainwashed state I realized something was amiss, which was why I put the statue in that cafe, and not in my building.

"This Nightmare is most likely the work of the evil spirits the statue attracted, most likely some of them were bound to your heart while it had been weakened, and manifested as Nightmare, your dark side, the things you hate the most about yourself and your most horrible thoughts and feelings, brought into the light."

"When we destroyed the statue, it killed it, right? Nightmare's gone?"

"I can't say. But, remember, it was bound to you, so it may still be alive. I'm just unsure."

"Geez…"

"People say you entered the cafe a lot," Anthony cut in. "If you were so scared that you shoved it into a storage room, why did you keep visiting it?"

"As I said, I may have subconsciously moved it far away, but my conscious mind was controlled by the statue. Even if I was too afraid to keep it nearby, it would keep me praying to it. I remember some of the prayers, but… most everything I was told back by the statue was to kill you, Sapphire. What happened to the other Chosen was inconsequential as long as you were dead."

"Why? I mean, I know I have powers or whatever, but I can't even use one of them right now. Why is it so much more important that I be killed?"

"I'm not sure… just that, while the others may be able to fight against Giygas, they would be unable to finally kill it without your power."

"What power? My ability to do whatever I do at Sanctuaries?"

"Yes. It's your power to become Bound by Hearts. To become Bound to the world."

"But what does that mean? I was told that traveling to all the Sanctuaries would give me the strength to beat Giygas, but I don't feel any stronger, even after grabbing three of 'em! I heal at them sure, but… no power boost, no wicked no skills, so what gives?" His voice raised slowly throughout his rant, before he ended it, fuming. It was something that had been building up over time, he'd realized, and it would have exploded out eventually. At first, he was excited when he got Giants Step, and assumed whatever power he'd get would be revealed eventually. Then, with Lilliput Steps, he'd just been happy to rescue Willow. Threed was when he'd noticed nothing was happening, though he'd been more focused on almost becoming a gemstone.

It was only now that the situation wasn't dire and there were no new friends to take up his mind, that he'd thought about it, especially with what Monotoli was telling them.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know. However, I can tell you another thing I saw in my prayers… it was something about Summers, and how you cannot reach the pyramid. How I can't let you go there."

"Well, we know our next destination," Willow shrugged.

"Along with Winters," Anthony added.

"If the evil side doesn't want you in Summers, then you must go. It is across the ocean, so I'll offer you my personal helicopter."

"None of us know how to fly," Anthony cut in.

"How do you know?" Willow pouted.

"If I don't know how to fly one, neither of you would have _any _idea."

"I will have one of my pilots fly you there, then."

"That sounds good, let's do it." Sapphire agreed to the plan, sighing as he calmed down.

Monotoli nodded and got up, walking to a stuffed bear statue and pulling its arm like a lever. A secret door in the wall opened up, and the man turned to nod at them. "Sapphire, good luck. Willow, stay safe."

"What about me?"

"Uh… also good luck?"

"Tch."

Sapphire rolled his eyes and led them through the doorway, through a hallway, and through another door that led to a helipad outside the building. However, what greeted them wasn't an empty helicopter awaiting them and their pilot, but instead, a helicopter that was just lifting off, rotors blasting them with enough wind to almost make them tumble back. Sapphire squinted his eyes and tried to see inside the vehicle, but the wind buffering him caused his eyes to water and he couldn't see clearly enough.

However, what he heard next certainly clues him in. Because even with the horridly loud noise of the rotors and wind, the annoying voice from the cockpit would always be more grating. "Sapphire, you pin-headed idiot, you're just half a step too slow! I'm getting out of here!"

"DAMNIT POKEY!"

The helicopter lifted off and hovered near the pad so that Pokey could laugh at them some more. "Now that poor Monotoli's just a boring old man again, I don't have any more use for him!"

"Get down here you coward!" Sapphire shouted, although a bit quieter since with the helicopter higher above them the wind didn't deafen him as much.

Pokey just ignored him though, continuing to laugh. "This helicopter will definitely come in handy for me, though! Looks like you're the world-class loser again, stripes!"

"Pokey," Willow called, "please! Don't do this! The statue is gone, so please, let this end! Stop helping Giygas!"

Pokey seemingly hesitated for a moment, and Sapphire jumped onto the opportunity. "Yeah, we can stop him together! You'd have saved the world, everyone will love you! What's to say you aren't the fourth Chosen?!" Sapphire knew he wasn't, of course, but he wasn't sure if Pokey knew, or if he knew that he knew that he wasn't the fourth. Wow, those were some mental gymnastics...

Pokey halted even longer, before shaking his head, his blond bowl-cut waving. "No can do! See ya, suckers!" And with that, the helicopter flew into the distance.

Sapphire watched it go, before slamming his fist into the wall of the building, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the stone, while some small pieces fell to the city below. "Fuck! God damn rat bastard!"

Willow physically recoiled, and Anthony winced. "Yeah... ever since Nightmare, he's… well, his vocabulary is certainly more colorful now… the anger, on the other hand, I'm pretty sure is from Pokey."

"Yeah… I'm sorry I couldn't turn him before this happened."

"What?" Sapphire turned and shook his head. "This is in no way your fault, why would you think that? This is obviously Pokey's, we've reached out to him and he still denies us, he just doesn't want help!"

"He's too prideful, it would seem."

"Of course he is," Sapphire grunted, holstering his bat and walking back inside. His teammates followed him back in, and Sapphire pointed at Monotoli. "Pokey stole your helicopter."

"What?" Monotoli just grasped his head and groaned. "This wasn't how it was supposed to go…"

The capped boy just watched him before rubbing the back of his neck. "Try and get better, Monotoli. Come on guys, we'll figure out another way to get to Summers."

"I suppose a ship would work fine." Anthony adjusted his glasses as he mused to himself.

"I think there's another way," Willow hummed. "I think… yeah, there's something in Threed to help us!"

"That's that problem solved. Let's move, then."

* * *

Anthony cracked open an eye as he felt something tug on his sleeve, and he turned to see Willow looking down at him. "Personal bubble."

"Whoops!" She scooched away, and Anthony got up from where he was laying, one of the couches on the Runaway Five's bus. After meeting them back downstairs, the group had offered to drive them back to Threed in exchange for saving them from another theatre that had tried to rip them off.

Anthony had, of course, Chosen one of the benches on the back of the bus to sleep on. Spending most of the night awake to make gadgets for the team meant that any time he had in the day that wasn't important would be immediately used for sleep. Willow, meanwhile, had watched Sapphire.

The boy sat by himself, looking out the window with a… well not serious expression, but calmer than he usually looked. Even when nothing was happening around him, he had a small smile on his face, and his shined with hidden mirth as if he were always planning some kind of prank or his next joke. It was small, but she knew him well enough to have spotted it almost right away.

Although now that she thought about… It was odd, how she knew his little quirks like that. Hey hadn't even known each other for… Wow, it had only been a few days. Yet she could see small ticks he had, good and bad. She wasn't a shy girl, not by any means, she respected personal bubbles, Anthony was just a bit more picky about space than most people, and when people said they didn't want to talk about something she usually backed off, but for some reason she didn't want to speak to Sapphire about what was bothering him, she was too nervous now.

So she'd bother Anty!

"I wanted to ask, is Sapphy okay?"

"He's…" the paler blond sighed and sat up, his nervous tick of chewing on his fingernail showing itself. "I'll admit, I'm not sure. The Mani-Mani, Moonside… it played with our brains, yes, but he… I think it's Nightmare. We have to assume it isn't gone, and I think it's worrying him."

"Nightmare…" Willow hugged her knees to her chest, causing Anthony to cough and quickly look away as her dress accidentally rode up before she fixed it.

"Is… everything alright?"

"I saw Nightmare."

"What?"

"The way that I speak to other people's minds… I dunno if there's a name for the place, but I think of it like a mental plain. It's like… the only things there are people's minds, but I can only interact with sleeping minds or other Psionics, but they can be anywhere in the world like you were in Winters while we were in Eagleland. It's why I needed Sapphire to contact you, even though you were asleep, we needed to stay in touch while you were awake."

"I get that, but you saw Nightmare?"

"Yes, when I tried to, uh, contact Sapphire, he pulled himself out of Sapphire's mind and talked with me."

"He didn't attack you?"

"No, but I don't know why." She told Anthony what Nightmare had said, hesitating for a moment before omitting the talk of love.

"That matches what happened to us, Nightmare was able to get out, but he couldn't harm me because Sapphire still had barely enough control to hold him back. But I am worried about another thing, if he was able to separate from Sapphire's mind to speak with you in this 'Mental Plain,' then he may truly be his own entity separate from the statue, and separate enough from Sapphire to still be alive."

"Maybe…"

"Either way, Sapphire should be fine. I think… the knowledge that Nightmare could break free and hurt anyone he cares for, and really most of what happened in Moon and Fourside, is causing him to take things more seriously. He switched between light-hearted and jovial to calm and serious before, but now it seems like he's in his more serious persona more often."

"Yeah…"

"I suppose it's what I asked for, is it not?" Anthony let out a derisive, quick laugh. "I wanted you both to become less childish, and here we are, Sapphire afraid of himself and you so worried that you aren't making me want to rip my ears off with your uncontrollable giggling." She laughed for a moment, and Anthony smiled. "But, I didn't really think you two acting as children was bad… I mean, we're all thirteen, we aren't supposed to be adults yet. We still have to enjoy our youth. I feel like Sapphire has had his own slowly taken over his journey, and this was a large push."

"Can we help him?"

"I'm not sure, these are psychological problems and psychology was the only class I could never understand. This journey might just cause him to mature faster, mentally." Anthony glanced over at her and spotted her biting her lip, a worried expression easily apparent. "You're worried about something else too."

"No…" she sighed. "Yes. I am. But it's more, uh, personal problem." She blushed, and Anthony raised an eyebrow. Personal? Anthony immediately began thinking about what it could be. He didn't mean to be rude, but whenever someone told him they had a problem he wanted to solve it. Even if it wasn't for him to solve. A good way to strengthen the brain.

"I could help, if you'd like."

"I'm not sure you could."

"I'm the genius here, am I not? I'm sure I could solve it within minutes."

"I like Sapphire."

"Yes, I like him too, now what's your problem?"

Willow let out a giggle at Anthony's inability to see what she meant. "So you want to be with him?"

"Why would I not? He may be annoying sometimes, but he's still my friend. I—" he stopped as Willow's giggles turned to laughter. "What?" His mind began piecing together what she had been talking about. "Oh, oh, oh no! I do not like him like that! I am strictly interested in females!"

Willow continued to laugh, eventually calming down after a minute. "So yeah, that's my problem."

Anthony huffed as he tried to stop blushing from embarrassment from his blunder, before crossing his arms. "Alright, well I don't see a problem. You're romantically interested in him, what's so bad about that?"

"I don't think he feels the same way for me."

"Ah." Anthony sighed. This was certainly a pickle. He'd never been great with people, obviously. "All right, let's approach this scientifically. Step one, how do you know he doesn't feel the same way?"

Willow took a deep breath, before explaining everything Nightmare had said. Every detail. "Honestly, he kinda acted like a cheesy cartoon villain."

"Considering Nightmare is simply Sapphire but evil, it's not like he'd be a master manipulator. That over-the-top speech is likely what he deemed to be the most threatening, and the easiest way to get you to… off yourself. Because that's all it knows villains to do. Even with me it was flamboyant and loved to exaggerate, make a spectacle, you see?"

"Oh… yeah, that does make sense."

"In any case, will you truly take Nightmare's words as fact?"

"No… he probably just said that to make me despair… but, what if that just means he doesn't love me at all, not even like a sister? What's worse, being seen as close as a family, or just a friend?"

"I'm not exactly the best person to ask that too, I wasn't interested in romance back at the boarding school." Anthony just sighed as he attempted to solve the problem laid out in front of him. "Well, have you thought about straight-up asking him?"

"Well… first, that'd just be embarrassing. Second, he's way too distracted already with Giygas and Nightmare, and everything else. I don't want to bother him with something like this…"

"Willow, you're one of the most outgoing people I know, how could you possibly be shy and embarrassed about this?"

She blushed and crossed her arms, a pout settling on her face. "Hey, it's not like I'm _trying _to be embarrassed and nervous! I just am!"

"Hm. Well, I suppose… Sapphire started this journey not even… what, a week ago? And we've already acquired three Sanctuaries. At this rate, we could very well be done with this war against Giygas within a month. Not even that, if we pick up the pace with Sapphire's newest trick. If your true concern is distracting him from everything going on, you'd only have to wait that long to tell him."

"Maybe, but now…" Willow twiddled her pointers, thinking. "I knew that I liked him already, but when Nightmare talked with me it kinda… I dunno, made me think about it more. So, by not telling him I might make the atmosphere of the group more awkward, ya know?"

"Yes, I can see this is a problem without a clear solution," Anthony sighed. "Besides the obvious of asking him how he feels, but you've already explained why you won't. I'm sorry, Willow, but I'm not sure I can think up a solution to this one."

"Figures… thanks for giving me some advice though."

"Of course. There's also the fact that, well, we're thirteen. Who's to say it isn't just a small crush, and not love?" Willow nodded, conceding that. "Just promise me one thing: if you decide to wait until we've defeated Giygas to tell Sapphire your feelings, then don't do the trope of randomly shouting them out during a dire moment, such as against an enemy or the big bad, in the hopes that it'll give him the strength to power through the fight and defeat the enemy before declaring his own love for you."

Willow giggled, "That sounds pretty cool, so no promises!" Anthony chuckled alongside her, content that he helped, at least somewhat.

"Almost at Threed boys and girls!" The driver yelled back at them. "Make sure ya got yer stuff!"

"Well, at least I got to sleep most of the way here," Anthony sighed.

"You just like being lazy," Willow giggled.

"Hey, guys," she looked to see Sapphire grinning as he grabbed his guitar pick and a guitar. "Why don't we get some music going before we get to Threed? A little celebration!"

"Ha! We'll take you up on that!" The band began playing and Sapphire quickly joined in, causing Anthony to groan as the noise prevented him from napping the rest of the way, and Willow to giggle. And at that moment, everything seemed alright. Sapphire's grin was wide, his eyes bright, and his voice happy.

* * *

As the bus cruised through the countryside, Sapphire sat looking out the window. Well, his body was. Mentally, he was elsewhere. He was still unable to telepathically talk with other people, but if he was inside his own mind, it should be pretty easy, shouldn't it?

The world went dark around him, and suddenly he was greeted with a small gold sphere. It had traces of red and black swimming through it, before it suddenly grew into the form of a person, sprouting limbs and a head, before becoming more detailed and recognizable as wearing clothes and sporting a familiar face, one that smiled back every morning in his bathroom mirror, although with a much more sinister smirk. Oh, and the horns and wings, plus the red and black color scheme. That was different too.

They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes, before Sapphire asked, "so, what's up with the golden eyes? Isn't the stereotype evil version of someone supposed to have red eyes, or black, or blank eyes, or whatever? I mean, the pupils and white part are different, but your irises are gold."

Nightmare burst out into laughter, "**ah man, I'm so thankful you're the Chosen I was bound to. Ant-man is so uptight, and the pink demon would just be annoying to talk to after a while."**

"Yeah, lucky me. So you're not gone."

"**Psh, no. Yeah, you destroyed my original 'body' I suppose you could say, but part of me combined with you. I'm gonna be here for a while!"**

"Why don't you save us both the trouble and either get rid of yourself so I don't have to, or just tell me how to do so. After all, without the statue around you aren't strong enough to start emerging just because I get a little pissed off now."

"**Hmm… Nah! That'd just be boring! We need an epic finale, the Chosen and his Hopes, against all that I am~. Besides, even if I can't get out, I'm sure you've noticed how much I'm influencing you, subconsciously."**

"Yeah. I curse now, for one."

"**Indeedy!" **Nightmare cackled as he floated around the blank area, coming to a stop as he floated upside down, his black hair hanging down. Even though they had the same color hair, it seemed wrong, like everything else about the creature. "**And even if your anger doesn't cause me to come out as easily, you still are getting angrier at smaller things! Y'all be gettin' **_**real **_**pissed off!"**

"God I hate you," he groaned.

"**If I'm you, does that mean you hate yourself?" **Nightmare hummed and made an exaggerated confused face, pretending to rub a non-existent beard.

Sapphire just watched him with a disgusted look. "How dare you be funny using my face."

Nightmare just snickered and turned right-side up. "**If all you wanted to know was if I was still here, then you've gotten your answer. Need anything else, Sapphy?"**

"First, don't call me that. Second, why do we have to be enemies?"

Nightmare blinked. "**...Pardon? Excuse moi? ¿Que? The fuck?"**

"Alright, shove it asshole, I know you can understand me."

"**Obviously, I'm just confused about why exactly you want to make friends."**

"I will not be friends with you. But what reason do you have to try and kill me and my friends? You have no way to harm me now, so why not just stop?"

"**Pfft… Ha! Hahaha! Oh man, that's rich! You want to make nice with the evil version of you! I haven't heard that one before!" **He grinned savagely, and Sapphire saw how sharp his teeth were. "**Just because I can tell a joke or two doesn't mean I don't **_**despise**_ **your existence. As long as you live, I'm trapped in here, like a fucking caged rat. You know how much we both **_**hate **_**being still, unable to do anything. You start fidgeting in your seat after just ten minutes in class, imagine how bad it is for me that I can only sit here and **_**stew, **_**imagining how sweet it'll be when I tear your throat out with my bare hands, or tearing Anthony's body apart with the PSI he loves to study will feel so good, or how pretty Willow's brains will be splattered across the ground when I'm done bashing them out! And even besides that, I was created by Master Giygas! My sole purpose is to KILL you!" **

Sapphire just sighed. "Damn, you've definitely got my stubborn nature." He crossed his arms and shook his head. "At least you won't be as intrusive now. After all, you aren't as powerful without the Mani-Mani. See ya, Nightmare." His counterpart just glared at him, as he began vanishing.

A moment later, and Sapphire opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the green landscape flying by as the bus drove. He heard Willow and Anthony speaking about something behind him, and he looked at his hands before clenching them. "Well… at least that's dealt with, for now." But just to be sure, he turned his gaze to the green landscape flying by, keeping an ear open for any murmurs within his head.

After a few hours of watching the countryside, Sapphire looked up as the driver shouted "Almost at Threed boys and girls! Make sure ya got yer stuff!"

He grinned and grabbed a guitar while fishing his guitar pick from his bag. "Hey, guys, why don't we get some music going before we get to Threed? A little celebration." Getting rid of his counterpart, for now, had lifted his spirits slightly. Might as well celebrate! With that, he began playing along with the band, a grin settling onto his face, hearing the groans and giggles of his teammates.

* * *

**Couldn't think of a good chapter title since this… isn't a filler chapter since plot stuff happens? But there's not one name to cover it all so that just seemed fine. They **_**are **_**leaving Fourside, for now.**

**Anyway. Sapphire can use Instant Transmission with a running start. Neat.**

**Ooh, and Pokey. What an absolute unit. He'll be fun. Can't wait to see him in the finale. **

**Anyway, leave a review with what you liked or just a 'nice.' See y'all next time.**


	20. Chapter 20: A Small Hideaway

Bound By Our Hearts Chapter Twenty: A Small Hideaway

Sapphire cracked his neck, grimacing. Resting his head against the window like he did while conversing with Nightmare gave him one hell of a cramp.

"Sapphy?" He jumped as Willow spoke up next to him, and he looked towards her to see a confused look on her face. "You okay?"

"Yep! Just peachy." He let off a chuckle as he rubbed his neck. Willow watched him for a moment, before blushing and turning away. Sapphire furrowed his brows in confusion, before turning to Anthony. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine." The blond boy waved off his concerns easily. "Willow, what were we supposed to do to get to Summers?"

Willow just shook her head, "I told you, we have to go to the cemetery."

Anthony just rolled his eyes, "Alright, but what's _in _the cemetery?"

"The Skyrunner!"

"But it was destroyed, right?" Sapphire questioned. His answer was presented when they reached the graveyard and returned to the cell they had been trapped in. The Skyrunner had been completely restored, but it wasn't powered up. "Whoa!"

A man next to it grinned, "we wanted to thank you for what ya did for our town, so we got to fixing this thing up! We don't know how to get it working though, so we just fixed the hull n' stuff."

"I'll handle the rest," Anthony cut in, smirking. "Sit tight." He climbed in and the sounds of drilling and whirring quickly filled the cave.

Sapphire just laughed and shook his head. "Man, we'd really be lost without him. Right?"

Willow giggled and nodded, sitting down on the floor cross-legged. Sapphire raised an eyebrow and sat down next to her, noticing she was quieter than usual. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine."

"Wow. Is this how you guys felt when I said everything was fine back in Fourside?" She let off a giggle at that, making him grin.

"Basically, yeah!"

"Heh, well, don't worry about that. I won't be doing anything like _that _again."

"Roger!" Sapphire nodded, seeing her a bit happier. He wouldn't pry, but if it started affecting the team, he would try asking what was wrong again.

"Done!" Anthony clanged a wrench against the hull of the Skyranger to get their attention. "It was a simple fix, nothing that would have required multiple hours. It'll take us back to Winters, and Doctor Andonuts can modify it to go to Summers. If he isn't around though, I'll just figure it out myself."

"Cool, let's get moving guys!" Willow jumped inside, followed swiftly by the other two Chosen. It was much more cramped with two extra people, but Anthony managed to set the destination and send the Skyranger flying. It quickly lifted off through the hole in the graveyard path above them, before flying east.

The vehicle followed the path it took to reach Threed, giving them views of the desert and Fourside, before they reached the ocean and the ship flew above the cloud cover. After several hours of griping at each other that there was no room, they eventually reached Winters and set down within Andonuts' lab, through the hole in the ceiling.

The landing went much smoother than the Skyrunner's previous one, thankfully. All three Chosen were able to leave the vehicle unharmed. Doctor Andonuts looked up from one of his work tables and smiled as he saw them. "Ah, you surprised me! Welcome back, Anthony."

Anthony just grunted, looking anywhere but at his father. Sapphire watched awkwardly, before stepping forward. "Uh, you're Doctor Andonuts, right? It's nice to meet you."

"Ah, and you must be… Sapphire? It's nice to meet you as well, my boy! Thank you for taking care of Anthony, I know that he wets the bed sometimes, but he's a good boy!"

"Wha— I was three when I did that! I haven't done it since!" Anthony yelled. "Oh, why do I even bother?! Just do what you always do and ignore me in favor of your work! We need the Skyrunner able to go to Summers, Sapphire, come get me when he's done."

"Hey, Ant!" The ravenette watched as the boy left the building, and sighed. "That was awkward…"

"It was my fault," the scientist sighed. "I tried to lighten the mood, but only succeeded in embarrassing my son."

"I think it might have also been that…" Sapphire hesitated before bulldozing through like he did most of his problems. "It might be that you're trying too hard to be his dad."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… whatever your reasons were for sending him away, he thinks that he wasn't wanted. And now when he comes back you act like nothing happened."

"I see. I'm not sure how I didn't notice that."

Willow smiled, "I think first, the next time you have enough time with him, start slow. Just ask him what he's been up to or what he likes doing now. Don't jump in headfirst."

"Of course. Thank you for the advice." Andonuts smiled and nodded, and the two Chosen decided to look for Anthony as the scientist worked on the Skyrunner.

As they got outside they shivered, Sapphire's T-shirt and shorts plus Willow's light dress not helping keep them warm in the snowy air. They soon found Anthony by Stonehenge, leaning against one of the pillars. "Hey, Ant?"

"Anty?"

When he didn't respond, Sapphire grinned and leaned down on the opposite side of the stone pillar, motioning for Willow to do the same. "So, since we can't find Ant, how about we make up embarrassing nicknames to call him behind his back?"

Willow caught on and giggled, nodding along. "That sounds fun!" Sapphire heard a rustle behind them and grinned.

"So, what first? Something to do with his tools? How about gear face?"

Willow nodded, hearing more rustling. "Oh, what do you think of mustard? For his hair!"

Sapphire snorted, "oh wow that's good. Hard hat? His hair is totally shaped like one."

"Goldilocks!"

"Lemon head!"

"Buttercup!"

"All right, enough!" Anthony jumped around the side and waved his hands. "Enough with the dang nicknames!"

"Took you long enough," Sapphire smirked, "want to finally talk, then?"

"Ugh… I despise you both…"

"Yes, yes, you can rant about how you'll destroy our bloodlines later; right now it's best-friend comforting time. Copyright."

Anthony groaned, sliding down onto his butt and groaning. "Man… what's there to comfort me on? I don't need comforting."

"Ah yes, because I don't have eyes nor ears. There is clearly nothing wrong here. Right, Wils?"

"Right." She nodded. "And if nothing is wrong, then I guess we should let you be by yourself then!"

"…" Anthony glared at then before looking away.

"Listen, Ant, we talked with your… with Doctor Andonuts. We explained what we think was what set you off, and he promised to not do it again."

"He did?"

"Yeah. Of course, there's a chance we could have been wrong, so you might want to correct him if we were." Sapphire stood up and dusted off his clothes. "I recall there was a Sanctuary Guardian in the cave to the north, so I'm going to check it out. I want you to talk with Doctor Andonuts while we do. When we get back, we'll set off for Summers, and hopefully, you two will be in better terms."

"What, you won't need me for the battle against the Guardian?"

"Well, hopefully not, but you reconnecting to the Doctor seems more important in my eyes. We'll handle the Sanctuary. Plus, that was an order, from the Leader of the Chosen Four."

"Heh. And of course, I can't ignore my leader." Anthony smirked to himself, before standing up with a sigh. "Alright. I'll do it." He lightly punched Sapphire's shoulder. "Thanks, dude."

"No problem." Sapphire grinned and turned to Willow. "I think we handled that pretty well."

"That was mostly you," she smiled, shaking her head. "You were pretty amazing."

"Well, come on, I'm not _that _cool," he laughed. "Anway, let's go check out that Sanctuary."

* * *

After several minutes of trudging through the snow, they finally found the cave Anthony had run through those few days beforehand.

The inside looked about the same, and they continued forward until they felt the light pressure against their skulls. It was much easier for both of them to bear, their PSI assisting them.

"You have finally arrived…"

"Sup fucker, been waiting long?"

"You're just using Nightmare as an excuse to finally curse, aren't you?"

"You can't prove anything."

"I'm telling your mom," she giggled.

"Please don't."

"…take it from me, if you dare. Have you been listening?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's my Sanctuary, yours now, blah blah blah, time to fight. Dude, I've done this three times by now."

"Hmph. How rude!" Out of the darkness of a doorway waddled out a bipedal mushroom person, small legs carrying a thick lower body that petered out into a small upper body, with two thin arms and a large head capped by… well, a mushroom cap. Honestly, pretty much the stereotypical mushroom man. "I will have to rid you of your rudeness before killing you for Master Giygas."

"I'd like to see you try!" Willow taunted back. A second later and flames began licking her skin, giving the cave a red-orange glow. A moment later and the flames roared forwards, washing over the walls of the cave and crashing down onto their foe like a wave.

The Guardian cried out in pain, and as the fire subsided its burnt form became visible. It had been badly hurt by the attack, but it tried to act tough and blew some spores at the two Chosen. They split up to avoid becoming infected before Sapphire ran in close and bashed the Shroom creature directly into a fireball launched by Willow.

Shroom screeched as it's fungus flesh burned, attempting to smack Willow away with its tiny arms. Willow easily jumped back and heated her frying pan with PSI, before _smashing _the Shroom away. It stumbled back before a Flash from Sapphire exploded against its torso and tore it apart.

Sapphire smirked and let the white light dance along his fingertips. "Mushrooms hate light."

"Come on, let's check out the Sanctuary!" Willow made for the opening in the rock that Shroom had been guarding, with Sapphire quickly following. "Y'know, that one kinda seemed weaker than the other Guardians."

"We're just stronger," Sapphire shrugged. "Your PSI is growing both stronger and more versatile. Before, you could only shoot out walls or rings of flames, but now you have a flamethrower and a fireball."

"Oh yeah! True!" Eventually, they exited out into a small clearing, seemingly disconnected from the rest of the world. Fresh snow was on the ground, and ahead of them was a small puddle with rain falling into it. Yet, above them, there was no cloud cover. Not a single white puff. The rain just endlessly fell from a void, and the puddle never grew. "Wow…"

"I think I remember reading about this place once," Sapphire hummed. He walked forward and knelt down, dipping his fingers into the puddle. "I can't remember the story, but there were two gods that were in love, one of the earth and one of the sky, and something happened to the earth god. I think it was… it split itself apart so that the humans warring upon its lands couldn't fight anymore, and that was the reason for the continents. And the goddess of the sky was distraught and cried enough to fill in the cracks between the continents, creating the oceans.

"This puddle is the supposed last place where the endless rain falls, where the sky meets the earth." He grinned and brought out the Sound Stone, "it's a pretty neat fairy tale. Super cool."

"But it's kind of sad, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but since the earth god is surrounded by the oceans from the sky goddess, wouldn't you say they're still together?" He smiled at her, all while the Sound Stone began playing a melody. "Either way, it _is _just a fairy tale."

He looked back just as the melody ended, and heaved a relieved sigh. He suddenly perked up as a gust of wind blew past, rustling his bangs and causing his clothes to flap slightly. And on that wind, he could faintly smell the scent of some of Tracey's freshly baked cookies. A brief flash and he could see some kind of gemstone within a small grassy area.

He looked down and saw a fourth slot filled in, a stylized puddle visible in the indent. Willow smiled, and he grinned back, before lifting the stone. "I'm Sapphire, and I claim this Sanctuary!"

* * *

Outside a certain house in Onett, there was a bright flash of light. Sapphire slowed down, before tripping over a rock and almost tumbling onto his face. "Gah, motherfucker!" He managed to dig his heels into the dirt as well as one hand, his other grasping his hat to make sure it didn't fly off. When he finally stopped, he breathed out and stood up. Cracking his neck, he approached the front door of his house.

After acquiring Rainy Puddle, the Two Chosen had returned to Andonut's laboratory. After telling Anthony about what had happened, the blond explained that he and the Doctor would begin mending their relationship by working together on the Skyrunner. But even together, the soonest it would be ready would be within two days. Sapphire and Willow responded positively, with Sapphire explaining that they could use the two days as a break period, all of them spending time with their respective families.

For Sapphire's father, he called and explained what had happened so far, and his father simply laughed and asked that if they made cookies to save one for the next time he'd get home, to which Sapphire cheekily responded by telling him it'd be stale long before the man got home. He'd dropped Willow off first at her house in Twoson, before speeding off to his own. And now here he stood, knocking on his front door. It opened, revealing his mother on the other side. "He— oh! Sapphire!" She quickly hugged him, "I thought you were… really far away by now!"

"Well, I picked up a trick or two…" he held out his hand and let some light flow from it. "I'm not back for good though, just visiting a bit."

"Of course, I understand. Tracey, come see who's visiting!"

There was the sound of footsteps before suddenly his little sister was at the bottom of the stairs. "Who? Ah! Big bro!" Sapphire laughed as she launched herself into his stomach, squeezing him tight. "Why didn't you say you were coming?! I would have made you cookies!"

"Eh, wanted to surprise you guys. How about we make 'em together?"

"No way, big bro! You can't bake at all!"

"Oi, I'll have you know I'm just _too good! _The oven can't handle me!" He stuck his tongue out at her, causing her to mimic him before running to the kitchen.

Their mother laughed, before shaking her head. "Go relax honey, you must be tired."

"Eh, psychic powers can be draining." He collapsed onto the couch in the living room, beckoning to King. "Hey bud, happy to see me back?"

(Sure, do you have any food?)

"Tch, Of course that's what you ask." Of course, he was happy he could finally understand his favorite (and only) pet, but such a standard response just made him smirk and shake his head.

(Is that a no?)

"Yeah that's a no," he snorted. "You'll get fat if we feed you too much."

(I remember saving your and that fat blond kid's butt all those nights ago.)

"Yeah, then you panicked and ran." He snickered as the dog harrumphed, before jumping onto the couch and laying down in his lap. A moment later and his mom and Tracey walked over, sitting down as well.

"The cookies will be ready in a bit, so let's watch a movie!"

Sapphire just smiled at his sister's demand, throwing his arm around her so she could rest against him. His mother grabbed the remote and turned on the television, flipping through the channels. And while his father wasn't there, he could still enjoy time with the rest of his family, because who knew what might happen on this journey? He'd cherish this small break he had as best he could.

It had been a full day of relaxation, Sapphire walked his sister to school, showing off some of his powers along the way, met up with his friends and played some baseball, and, although reluctantly, knocked on the Minch household's door to see how Picky was doing. The small boy was obviously worried about his brother, so Sapphire lied as best he could and told the boy his older sibling was safe.

His mother helped him clean his clothes and he made sure to organize his bag, but after all that, the day wasn't even mostly over. He stared out his window with a bland look, humming to himself as he lazily strummed his guitar. He had fun, yes, but now he was just waiting. And over the journey, his already extreme restlessness had simply grown. He couldn't stand doing nothing.

Was there anything else he wanted to do before the day was over? Before tomorrow was over as well? He'd visited all of his friends, even Fail-Proof Frank. There was nothing more to be done, but just playing ball or watching television now just seemed… boring. He needed something exciting to do, battle monsters maybe, but all of the monsters in Onett ran the moment they saw him.

He thought for a moment, before nodding. He'd head to Twoson tomorrow, maybe visit everyone he knew there. It was really too bad that he wasn't tired yet, because there wasn't much for him to do before he went to bed. He looked to see a small notebook by the side of his bed and smiled. He set down his guitar and pick, before grabbing the notebook and a pencil from his drawer.

He began writing, erasing several lines and rewriting others. After the sun went down, he looked over the page and nodded, before grabbing the Sound Stone and playing its melody, and his guitar to start strumming.

"_I haven't lived nearly half of my life,_

_Like most other a-dults that I know._

_But I… still have, plenty, of memories…_

_Right here, in my own ba-ckpack."_

He continued strumming, trying to follow the rhythm that played from the Sound Stone.

"_From my favorite baseball cap._

_And to my shoes, with their worn-out heels._

_To deep, within my po-ckets…_

_My very worn guitar pick."_

The Sound Stone had looped by this point, starting over, but Sapphire kept going.

"_And there were times I cried out lo-ud…_

_But you were always th-ere… by my side._

_You've made me strong, just being yourselves. _

_We always walked with a smile~_

_Like a gentle wind, blowing through the grass…_

_Together we shared smiles._

_Smiles and tears, one after another…"_

He paused.

"_And n-ow far_… _Apart~."_

The room fell silent, and let out a sigh. It had been a while since he wrote something, and even longer since it wasn't rock and roll. But that… was nice. With his plans to head to Twoson set, he got into bed and set his guitar to the side, falling into a slumber.

* * *

The meeting and talking with the friends he'd made in Twoson took his mind off the boredom of normal life, and he'd even said hello to Willow and her family at the preschool for a short while before wandering off. Now he was walking along the western outskirts of Onett after having walked through the woods back to his hometown, looking out over the cliff towards the seemingly endless ocean.

He'd been here only once or twice, the long drop to the ocean below scaring him when he was younger, but now it wasn't nearly as frightening. The lap of the waves against the bottom of the cliffs was soothing, and he stopped for a moment, before sitting down and looking out.

"Hey, you kid!" The silence was shattered when a man shouted at him and waved him over. "Yeah, you! Wanna buy a house?!"

"I'm a kid, man." He shook his head, slightly annoyed.

"C'mon, you don't want a little hideaway from your parents? Or maybe a hideout for you and your friends! I'll give it to you for one singular payment of ten-thousand dollars!"

"One?" Sapphire raised an eyebrow. That was oddly cheap. Or at least, he thought it was, he wasn't good with houses. "That doesn't seem so bad… and a place for the gang to hang out in could be nice…"

"Yeah! Whadda ya say?"

"…alright, fine." After making sure he had the right amount he handed it over to the man, who just grinned.

"Have a great day! I'm sure you'll be happy with your purchase!" With that he threw a key at him, grabbed a 'for sale' sign, and sped off, leaving Sapphire standing in front of the house. It was small, just one story, with yellow walls and a brown roof that a chimney poked out of. The doorway was brown and covered by a red and white awning.

Sapphire unlocked the door and stepped inside. He blinked, before sighing at the state of the house. "So _this _is why it was so cheap." The furniture was destroyed. Pieces of wood were hanging, rotted, from the ceiling. The _entire back wall of the house _was gone.

Well, what good were psionic abilities if you couldn't fix up a single house? He set to restoring the place, while also training his abilities. Telekinesis allowed him to control multiple dusters at once and pick up trash without having to touch it, while Flash let him see into any dark corners. Paralysis, though weaker than an actual Thunder attack, gave off enough electricity to kickstart the lights.

After a short while, the destroyed furniture and debris from the wall was gone. Sapphire cracked his back, before going into Onett to get stuff to replace it with. It only took a few short trips thanks to his telekinesis, but a few people stopped and stared when they saw a thirteen-year-old boy wandering through the streets with beds, wood, and chairs floating behind him covered in a blue aura.

By the end of the day, the house was completely rebuilt, although with extra furniture. Instead of one bed, there were four, the chair had been replaced with a couch big enough for four people, and the table now had four chairs instead of two. Sapphire grinned at the sight of his hard work, before falling onto his face and passing out from overworking his mind with his PSI. "Ughhh…"

After a quick nap on the floor, he got up and stretched. "The hideout of the Chosen Four is complete!" He snickered and cracked his knuckles. "We just need to rest in it once to make it official."

The receiver phone is his pocket suddenly rang, and he picked it up to hear Anthony's voice. "Hello, Sapphire?"

"Howdy, what's up?"

"The Skyrunner will be done by tomorrow morning, but Andonuts can finish it himself. He said I should relax with my friends for a bit, so… could you pick me up?"

"Sure, yeah. I'll be there in a moment." He hung up and went outside, getting down into a runner's stance. He started running, energy flowing around him before he was suddenly in front of the laboratory. "Ant?"

"Instant teleportation is a miracle," Anthony shook his head, stepping out from the laboratory. "I didn't want to accidentally get hit by you running in at Mach… actually, we should measure how fast you're running during your teleport."

"Science later, c'mon, let's pick up Willow. I've totally got a place for us all to hang!"

"A place? You mean your house?"

"Nope!" Sapphire grabbed Anthony's hand, and, after making sure he was ready, began running. "By the way, how'd it go with the doc?"

Anthony waited until the shock of teleportation wore off to answer. "It went… alright. We talked for a bit, and he asked if I'd like to work on some other projects with him in the future." The walked down the block towards Willow's house, birds chirping overhead. "I think I might be able to get along with him…"

"That's great!" Sapphire knocked on the front door of the house, and Willow quickly answered. "Sapphy! I knew you were coming!"

"Premonition is a hell of a thing." Sapphire laughed and tilted his head. "Me and Ant—"

"Anthony and I."

"Whatever, we're gonna hang until tomorrow. Want to come?"

"Sure!" She ran back inside to say bye to her parents and the kids, before running back out with her pan and bag. "Let's go!"

"Alright, hold on!" Another flash of Teleport and they were on the outskirts of Onett. The ravenette led them down the dirt path towards the small house he'd gotten, and grinned when it came into view. "Ta-da! The new hangout for the Chosen Four!"

"Whoa! So cool!"

"How much did it cost?"

"Everything…" Anthony quickly smacked him. "Ten thousand!"

"That seems awfully low."

"Yep, it was a steal!"

"You were tricked, weren't you?"

"Shut it." Willow giggled at their byplay, and they quickly entered the house. The two blonde blinked in surprise before the more excitable one began running around to look at everything and the calmer one crossed his arms.

"Impressive place."

"Wow! So cool!"

"Told ya it was a steal! Even if I had to fix some stuff up, I'd say it turned out pretty good!" He rubbed his chin, looking around. "Course, it won't really feel like our hideout until all Four Chosen are here at once, but it's still pretty cool, for now."

"I concur." He spotted a television and a stack of VHS tapes. "I suppose you want us to watch a movie then?"

"Yeah! I mean, what else could we all do together besides battle monsters?"

"True." Willow suddenly jumped over the back of the couch and landed on her back.

"C'mon, let's watch some movies! I call a horror movie!"

"Willow, you need to stop wearing pink and loving horror stuff like zombies, it totally clashes with your character," Sapphire sighed.

"I do what I want!" She cackled.

"How about a documentary? I believe something that could—"

"No!" The other two Chosen shouted in unison.

"I want a comedy!" Sapphire suggested. Or really, demanded. "as leader of the Chosen, my word is the law!" Anthony and Willow looked at him deadpan before they both slapped him. "Traitors!"

"Perhaps something philosophical?"

"Ugh, why do you need something smart?! Be a thirteen year old for once!" Willow cried, banging the top of his head.

Sapphire groaned, looking over the stack of VHS tapes he'd borrowed from home. While arguing with each other about this was fun, and it was, they all had grins on their faces, even Anthony, it wasn't going anywhere. It was time for the leader to step in!

First off, separate out everything that wasn't horror, philosophical, or comedy. Then, put everything back together because literally none of the movies he had were all three. Time to start using some brainpower. Or really, time to stretch the themes of some movies out obnoxiously to try and calm everyone.

"I've got it!" He spun around, holding a copy of Groundhog Day.

Anthony raised an eyebrow. "Really? Groundhog Day?"

"That isn't a horror movie!"

"Nor is it philosophical."

"So you have both heard and know what it's about, but have not watched it, correct?"

"Yep."

"Indeed."

"Then I shall explain it in a way that does not spoil anything. Which I really can't, cause I haven't seen it either, I just heard it's funny… anyway! Anthony- with the basic synopsis of the weatherman having to relive the same day over and over for an indeterminate amount of time, you could say that it's philosophical in a way that makes you think about what you would do if you could relive the same day for eternity, and how long would it take, before you went insane?"

"Astonishing, you're pulling out the big words."

"And Willow! Reliving the same day… is that not a kind of horror? Knowing that no matter what you did, you'd be doomed to start over? No progress made until you went mad?"

"I… didn't understand the structure of that sentence, dumb it down."

"Time travel scary. Go insane."

"Wow, sounds scary!"

All three children looked at each other, before bursting out into laughter. "Alright, let's watch it!"

* * *

It was great.

Sapphire, as was his nature, snickered at some jokes and outright _wheezed _at all the rest, nearly falling off of the couch at some points. Anthony attempted to spout philosophy at some points, before just giving up and laughing alongside the other two. Willow was the same as Sapphire, except replace snicker with giggle and wheeze with outrageous laughter.

Of course, whenever they got to a romantic scene Sapphire and Willow would gag and screech, attempting to fast forward the movie while Anthony smirked maliciously and made no move to do so, hoarding the remote to himself. This usually led to a pile-up as he was tackled off the couch by the other two Chosen in an attempt to steal the remote.

And of course, after the movie was over, they started a movie marathon that lasted well into the night. Once they ran out of movies, Sapphire grinned and brought out the game station he had hid behind the television. "Surprise! Video game marathon time!"

"Awesome!"

"I'm already tuckered out from the movies…"

"Nope, we're playing!" He quickly booted up the SNES (which always struck a chord in him, oddly enough.) "c'mon, let's play some LoZ!"

"Oh, isn't that the game where you play as the Zelda guy?" Sapphire and Anthony both looked at Willow with disgusted faces.

"Even I know his name is Link."

"How… you dare disrespect Link like that?"

Willow tilted her head. "Then why is it called the Legend of Zelda?"

"Stop. Stop right now, my heart can't take it." Sapphire collapsed into Anthony's lap.

The blond boy looked down at him, before looking up at their pink teammate with a deadpan expression. "He's dead. You've killed him. The war against Giygas has been lost."

"You're just being dramatic!" Sapphire stuck out his tongue with a 'blegh' noise. "Oh c'mon, Sapphy!"

"Hush, I'm dead. I can't speak."

"I'll have to set up a funeral. You won't be invited, you killed him after all."

"Well if neither of you are going to play~" She grabbed the controller and began mashing buttons to jump through the start screen.

"Wha— Hey, be careful or you'll delete my saves!" Sapphire suddenly jumped up and wrestled with her for the controller, causing her to shriek with laughter.

"No! Mom said it's my turn on the SNES! Anthony, make him stooop!"

"You're both children," he sighed.

"You're a kid too, damn it!"

Afterward, they started up a video game marathon, Sapphire teaching both Anthony and Willow the ropes. By the time the last game had finished, all of them were too exhausted to move, and crashed on the couch together, ignoring their beds. As Sapphire began drifting off he smiled, knowing that his friends were right by his side.

* * *

**Oh wow, another calm chapter. Well, we're heading to Summers so who knows what'll happen next. Well, I do. I already have chapters 21-22 done.**

**Anyway, sorry if it's a little bit filler-y. I figured everyone would need a sort of break after the events of the game so a relaxing chapter fit.**

**The little song Sapphire sings is actually the Smiles and Tears song from the credits, which actually has lyrics. There are basic translations for it, and I changed some words and stuff to fit and flow better. **

**A little thing I put in is that, besides the fourth wall breaks and futuristic stuff Apple Kid and Anthony make, all of the media and tech in Bound By Our Hearts is from the correct time period, or at least I think it is. I usually look it up to see if I'm correct, like instead of DVD's they use VHS, and the movies and games they watch are from 1994 or earlier since that's when Earthbound came out.**

**Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' **

**See y'all next time.**


	21. Chapter 21: Prince of the Clouds

Chapter Twenty-One: Prince of the Clouds

Sapphire stretched as he jumped out of the Skyrunner. "LAND HOOOOOO!"

"I'll beat your ass if you don't quiet down," Anthony shouted, covering his ears.

Willow just giggled and spun in place, feeling the sand of the beach shift underfoot. "It's so nice here! And the Skyrunner didn't crash this time!"

Anthony nodded, folding his arms with a sense of pride. "I did help work on it this time if you'll recall." A second later the Skyrunner exploded, sending shrapnel and smoke flying high. "Uhh…"

"Yeah, I recall," Sapphire snickered. "So, we're in Summers now. I guess we should look around?"

"It's a bit hot here, though thankfully not as much as the desert. Presumably from the oceanic breeze."

"I mean, isn't this place part of FoggyLand, with Winters?"

"Correct, Winters, Summers, and Toto are part of FoggyLand, and to the east is Chommo with the region of Dalaam."

"Alright, enough geography!" Willow jumped, throwing her hands wide apart. "Let's explore!"

"Pictures taken instantaneously!"

"Oh c'mon, what, did you hitch a ride on the Skyrunner or something?!"

"Yep! Also, I'd say I'm a photographic genius! Ready for an instant memory?"

"Yeah yeah yeah, Fuzzy Pickles." A snap and a flash and he was gone. "Alright, let's go." The beach they were on led back to a main road, with a variety of resort-like buildings lining it. A fancy hotel, a restaurant, a museum, a club, buildings like that.

To the east was a multitude of small buildings, with boats in the harbor and sailors relaxing. "So, what are we looking for?"

"I think…" Willow closed her eyes, and both boys grabbed her shoulders to make sure she wouldn't fall. "We need to take a boat south."

"Alright, let's talk to some sailors then." Of course, that turned out to be easier said than done. None of the sailors were alright with sailing, because of the monstrous 'Kraken' that laid waste to any boats sailing south of Summers.

"I'd say the existence of the Kraken is impossible, but I've already encountered Tessie," Anthony muttered.

"What is a Kraken, Anyway?"

"There are many legends surrounding it, most in the forms of Scandinavian myths. Most descriptions were of a large cephalopod, or squid slash octopus, of about forty to fifty feet in length, although some legends say that it could grow to be the length of an Eagleland mile, or even be mistaken for a large island."

Sapphire whistled, "Whoa."

Hearing that, it made sense why most of the sailors were scared. Except one. One man said he'd let them use his boat to cross the sea to Scaraba if they helped him with his wife. Apparently, she was completely ignoring her 'Magic Cake Business,' hanging out in a strange club, and wasn't talking as much with her husband.

"Why are children being asked to solve a marital dispute?"

"We're pretty much living a video game plot at this point, get over it." Sapphire snickered at the sigh Anthony let out at his words. After wandering some more, they eventually found somewhere that knew the number to the Stoic Club, allowing them to make a reservation.

As they walked to the club, Anthony shook his head. "I'm quite sure this is not how reservations are supposed to be used. We make a reservation so that we are guaranteed entry to a place, not so that we can _actually get in."_

"Hey, don't complain to me. I've got no idea how this adult stuff works either." The inside of the club was pretty bland compared to what they expected. Just some people sitting at tables and talking, with a stage in the back that had a rock on it. For some reason. "Adults are weird."

They began looking around for the cake woman, but Anthony was swiftly pulled away when he realized that everyone in the room was speaking science. "Didactically speaking, seminal evidence seems to explicate the fact that your repudiation of entropy supports my theory of space-time synthesis. Of this, I am irrefutably confident."

"Truly?" Anthony sat down and began countering the man with his own science talk, leaving Sapphire and Willow to groan and look for the woman on their own. They got lucky, eventually, finding her sitting alone at a table near the entrance. The woman was stubborn, spouting nonsense about burning a hole in her psyche, but they eventually managed to get through to her by straight-up telling her they came from far away just to eat her magic cake.

And for some reason, Sapphire felt _really_ dirty saying that.

They had to drag Anthony out of the club by force, but they managed to follow the woman to her cake stand. "I don't know who told you, but you really came from far off just to eat my magic cake?"

"…yes…"

"Great! I know cake making would be the best career for me!"

"Uh, yeah. Anyway, your husband—"

"Here!" She stuffed an… odd-looking cake into Sapphire's hands. "Dig in! I used many leftover materials! This is a very special magic cake!" She beamed at him, and Sapphire nervously turned to his teammates, only to realize they had taken some rather large steps back.

"Hey, you're our leader! Go on and eat that cake!"

"I concur."

He grumbled, before sighing and biting into it. The woman smiled even wider, and he attempted to smile back, only to feel his stomach gurgle. "Ah shit, here we go again." He fell flat on his face, the cake splattering against the ground.

He felt hands on him, and a sensation like he was being moved. Muffled noises came from around him, but they became less and less clear. What became much easier to understand, however, was a dream… or perhaps, a vision.

* * *

In Dalaam to the far east, in a village high atop a mountain, higher than the clouds, in fact, with a population of a little more than a thousand, the Crown Prince Noct opened his eyes. He'd felt it. It was time.

Apparently, his Sensei had felt it as well. "Prince Noct, the time has now come for you to undertake your final trial. Go to the 'Place of Emptiness,' and endure your final test. I am praying for your success in this final stage of your training, so that you may help those destined to save the world."

Noct simply nodded and stood. He was not one for unneeded words, after all. He made his way from the throne room, passing by a maid. "Prince Noct," she blushed. "I hope you know you're my favorite of the royal line!"

He simply nodded back. He exited the royal family's palace, before making his way down the path that led through the village. As he went, many of the people who saw him bowed or blushed, greeting him as he went past.

At the southern tip of the village, he made his way across a small, natural rock bridge that held up a small floating landmass. His Sensei had explained the Place of Emptiness was not fully anchored to their world and was held aloft by the very energy that Noct had been able to harness since birth. He had not trained there yet, however, as his Sensei had told him that it would be the culmination of his training.

As he approached a rope that he would have to climb to reach the peak of the Place if Emptiness, he noticed an odd man standing by it, one he'd never seen before. The man noticed him, and a small smile spread on his face. "Ah, Prince Noct."

"Who are you?"

"Who I am is of no importance. Long ago, I completed Mu training. Someday soon, I shall show you a higher level of training… when you are ready." There was a flash of PSI, and the man was gone.

Noct looked around, before turning back to the rope. He began climbing until he reached the top where he sat cross-legged. He began his meditation, blocking out the world around him.

"My Prince… your Master wishes for you to stop your training immediately… you must give it up…"

Noct ignored the voice, continuing his training. His Sensei would not change his mind like that, it was most likely a trick to test his resolve. He felt the energy of the Place of Emptiness surround him before there was a jolt.

"Prince Noct… I am the spirit of your ancient lineage…" before him, a specter appeared. It had no discernible features, appearing to be simply a humanoid phantom. "Are you ready to begin the trial of Despair?"

"I am ready, forefathers."

"I will begin by breaking your legs. You will lose your ability to use them, forevermore. Do you accept this?"

"I do." Without the specter moving, his body suddenly convulsed. He bit his lip as pain spread through his legs, the bones in them breaking and grinding into dust. But he did not scream. He had broken several bones before during training. Not to this extent certainly, but for now… he would manage.

Even without legs, he must walk tall, to follow his Master and protect his village.

"So, Prince Noct, you cannot walk as your legs are broken. Next, I shall tear your arms from you, and dead them to the crows. The taking of your arms… do you accept this?"

"I… do." Once again, the specter made no movements, but his body still reacted. He felt immense pain as his shoulder bones separated, before with the sound of tearing flesh and a splatter of blood, his arms flew off. He bit back a scream, feeling blood leak from his lip as his teeth ruptured it. His body fell back without anything to support it, leaving him to lay on his back.

Even without arms, he must fight on, to defend his Master, and defend his village.

"Ah, Prince Noct… Without legs or arms, you can only lie there… now, I'll cut your ears off. You do not mind me taking your hearing away, do you? Do you accept this?"

"I… do…" his ears suddenly fell clean off, once again without the specter moving. It happened so fast that the pain didn't set in for a moment before it all hit him at once and a muffled yell came from his mouth. He felt blood leak from where his ears once were, as well as see into his ear canals.

Even without ears, he must listen well, for the orders from his Master, and the requests of his citizens.

So, Prince Noct… no legs, no arms, and no sound… by floating words through the air, I must ask you… do you care if I take your eyes? Do you want to live in eternal darkness? I shall steal your sight… do you accept this?) The words he did not hear, instead, they floated through the void in front of him.

"…I… do…" the void was already blank, but it became much emptier when the specter, and his body, vanished. He felt warm liquid spurt from his eye sockets as his eyes vanished, the tearing of his optic nerve causing pain to flash through his body and a scream to finally erupt from his mouth.

Even without eyes, he must watch closely, for the unknown dangers that threatened his Master, and threatened his village.

(So, Prince Noct… now, I can only directly communicate with your mind. Your mind is all you have left… in the end, I will take your mind, though you probably don't want to allow that, do you?) he gasped, raggedly, unable to answer the specter. The pain was simply too much. (So, you can't answer? You can't even move? Are you lonely? Are you sad? If you give in to Despair, you will also lose any feelings of sadness. Do you accept this? I will take your mind, Prince Noct, know that I shall possess it.)

Pain lanced through his brain, but the rest of his body, or really, what was left, began relaxing. If he gave in… then he could rest. He could…

No.

Even when feeling Despair, he must stay strong. To best serve both his Master and his village.

"I… refuse!" The pain suddenly spiked, all across his body, reaching new heights.

(Oh? Are you quite sure?)

"I will not give in!" It got worse, and it got worse, and just when he thought he might die, it suddenly stopped. For a moment, the prince thought that his heart had given out.

(Well done. You have passed the test of Despair.)

His sight slowly returned, and he found himself sitting atop the Place of Emptiness. His body was completely intact, no damage, and he felt stronger than he had been before beginning the last part of his training. "Prince Noct!" He turned to see one of his aides standing near the edge of the cliff. "You have now completed your training! The old master must be so pleased! Hurry back to the palace, as you please!"

He nodded, descending the way he came up. The entire walk back to the palace felt… different. He felt taller, stronger, his hearing seemed to pick up sounds he couldn't before, his eyesight was now like a falcon's, and his mind felt clearer than it had ever been.

Inside the palace, his Sensei awaited him by his throne. "I am proud," his Sensei started with a smile, "you have completed your Mu training."

"Thank you, Sensei," he replied proudly, bowing.

"There is nothing more to teach you from the holy writing, on how to defend our world. Prince Noct, I shall relay to you a message from eternity. The evil entity that controls and embodies all wickedness is preparing for the greatest struggle of all time."

Noct nodded, having heard the prophecy before. It had been relayed to him since birth, after all. He was one of the Chosen Four and destined to help save the world.

"The names of the leader and the remainder of the Chosen Four have been revealed by eternity. He Who Shall Save Humanity, He Who Holds Hope, He Who Shall Transcend Space. The Leader of the Chosen Four. He is known as Sapphire. The Heart of the Chosen Four. She is known as Willow. The Genius of the Chosen Four. He is known as Anthony. And you, Prince Noct… you are The Sword of the Chosen Four."

"I understand."

"Good. Now, seek him out, the Leader of the Chosen Four. He was not trained as you were, however, his instincts have allowed him to grow strong on his own. Your duties will not just be his protection, but to teach him. Teach him the ways of PSI. He is in… Summers. For all beings, for the earth herself… I pray for the growth of the might of the Chosen Four."

"I shall not let you down, Sensei. Nor the kingdom." Noct turned and faced the path that led from his throne room to the outside. He summoned his PSI, feeling the energy flow across his body. "PSI Teleport, β." He began running, however, unlike Sapphire's requirement for a long path to run down and build speed, he instead was able to run in a circle, building speed as he went, before with a _crack _of energy, he vanished.

* * *

Sapphire groaned as he slowly awoke, and held a hand to his head. "My everything hurts…" he lurched forward, and his hand moved from his head to his stomach. "Oh no."

He looked around in a panic, before spotting an open bathroom door. He leaped forward, scrambling inside, before pulling up the lid of the toilet and hurled into it. A few seconds passed before he groaned and held both hands to his stomach. "PSI Healing β…"

His stomach stopped gurgling, and he heaved a relieved sigh, before spitting out any remaining hunk into the toilet. He clumsily flushed it, before filling the sink with water and dunking his face in it. After a full minute of letting the water soak away the barf, he threw his head back and gasped. "Oh thank god that's over."

"That was just painful to watch," a girly giggle sounded out. He just groaned in response and threw out a middle finger in Willow's general direction.

"Not even an iota of thanks for dragging you to a hotel room."

"Why didn't you take me to a doctor?!"

"You just had an upset stomach, nothing that bad. Honestly, that woman should learn how to make better cake."

Sapphire rubbed his face off with a towel before walking out of the bathroom, feeling like all he was running on was a single cup of coffee and thirty minutes of sleep. And since he hadn't had coffee, he was anticipating the crash to come any second now.

Before he could respond to her, they all turned to the door they heard a knock. "What, did you guys order room service or something?"

"I didn't order anything."

"Me neither."

Sapphire opened the door and blinked as he saw a boy wearing a martial arts gi kneeling. "Uhh…" the boy looked older than them, maybe fifteen-years-old. He was also more muscular than him, having clearly defined biceps and forearms. His deep black hair was tightly pulled back into a ponytail, so much so that the rest of his head was bald. "Who are you?"

The boy didn't look up, still staring at the floor and kneeling. "Konichiwa, Sensei."

"…sorry, I don't speak French."

Anthony gained the look of someone who hated being alive. "Your very existence brings pain to mine," he stared daggers into Sapphire, causing him to throw back a shit-eating grin.

"CROISSANT!"

"Big mood," Willow nodded.

The guy at the door finally looked up and watched them all with a confused glance, before letting out a small, 'ah.' Sapphire felt… something, in his brain before the guy in front of him looked back down. "Apologies, Sensei, I had forgotten that different regions of the world have different languages."

"Did you just read my mind to learn English?"

"Indeed."

"That's badass."

Anthony just groaned before getting them back on track. "In any case, you called Sapphire Sensei? Doesn't that mean teacher? Also, why are you here?" When Sapphire raised an eyebrow, Anthony just shrugged. "I took languages."

"I called Sensei, Sensei, as he is the leader of the Chosen Four, correct? I am the fourth member of the Chosen Four."

"…wait, that wasn't some fever dream?" When the kid didn't answer, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, you can stand? I guess? And you don't have to call me Sensei."

The boy stood, nodding. "Understood, Master. I am Prince Noct."

"Wait, Master is worse!"

"I'm Willow Polestar!" She giggled and jumped forward.

"Greetings, Polestar-San."

When Willow looked at him confused, Anthony explained. "They use last names and an honorific for respect. I'm Anthony Andonuts."

"Andonuts-Sensei." He nodded.

"Why call me Sensei and her San?"

"You are the genius, correct? I have learned how to lead my kingdom, as well as fight both with my fists and my PSI. However, I know little of the outside world. I humbly request you teach me."

Anthony felt tears come to his eyes. "Finally… someone normal!"

Sapphire just snickered, "well, welcome to the team, uh, Prince Noct-San?"

"You may simply call me Noct-San if you wish."

"Cool, cool. So… what now? We heading to Scaraba?"

"Unfortunately, not yet." Anthony adjusted his glasses and leaned against the wall. "The boat guy agreed to take us to Scaraba, but he needs to get his boat ready."

"Alright, I guess while we wait we can get to know our new teammate!"

"I would be honored to tell you all about myself, Master." Noct bowed again.

"Alright, uh, lay off the bowing and Master stuff."

"Ahem," Anthony interrupted. "On another note, we discovered… well, Pokey has been through here."

Sapphire's smile fell, and Willow took a step forward. "Sapphire—"

He held up a hand, still looking forward. After a moment, he sighed. "It's alright. I don't think… I'm not angry anymore. I want to help him, like you said, Willow." She began beaming at him, and he gave a weak smile back. "But he's a stubborn ass, so that might be tough."

"We'll just do our best!" Willow cheered. "Everyone deserves to be saved!"

"As long as we don't get killed doing so, then I'm fine with it."

Noct just nodded.

"Alright. Now that that's decided, what do you guys wanna do?"

* * *

"Why did you want to go to a museum?!" Sapphire groaned, following behind Anthony.

"You're the one who asked," the blond smirked back. "Besides, I've heard this museum has artifacts from Scaraba, so I'm sure that something here could help us."

Sapphire sighed and just looked around. Most of the objects were boring old things, with plaques below them explaining what they were. 'Toten Karmen's casket. Toten Karmen's pencil case. Toten Karmen's lunchbox.' Sapphire did a double-take at the last one, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure that one's correct…"

"So much history in one place!" Anthony sighed happily as he looked around. "it's wonderful."

Noct looked at the boy confused. Willow noticed and explained. "Yeah, he likes history along with science. He's weird like that." Noct nodded.

"Just because I like multiple subjects does not make me weird!"

As Sapphire rolled his eyes, he spotted a sign near the back of the museum. 'Ancient Scarabanian tablet,' it read. "That might be cool to check out," he spoke up pointing it out.

"I suppose," Anthony hummed. "Yes, let's see what it is." They walked up a flight of stairs, before entering a small room. The tablet in question was sitting on a small display stage, while two statues stood next to it. The writing on the tablet was in hieroglyphs, but a small sign in front of it was in English.

"'Ancient language of Scaraba, the true translation is unknown at this time.' Well, that sucks."

"I can translate, if you so wish, Master."

"You can read that?"

"Correct. Part of the prophecy spoke of dangers in Scaraba, so some of my teachings pertained to ancient Scarabian."

"Useful. Sure, go ahead."

Noct studied the tablet for a moment, working out the translation in his head, before translating again into English. "'To fight against the invaders, we built this pyramid fortress. However, our efforts were futile, and we lost. Nonetheless, our pyramid was protected by the gods of Scaraba. The invaders will be reborn in one millennia, and will attack once more. Even now, the invaders hide beyond space and time and build their evil stronghold.

A place out of time is beyond the Dark and is even further beyond than the Lost Underworld. The Deep Darkness is shrouded, it is without light. Only one with the Hawk-Eye can pierce the dark. The Sphinx now watches over everything, waiting for the coming of a truly brave hero.' This part here… it seems to be a diagram, it doesn't say anything."

"Hmm…" Anthony grabbed a piece of paper from his bag, before sketching the set of hieroglyphs that Noct had pointed out. "The diagram may be important, so I'll keep this in case we need it."

With Anthony done, Noct went back to reading. "The only thing left that it says is 'Dance in front of the Sphinx.'"

"So, there's… something in the pyramid in Scaraba? Something that can help us?"

"It would appear so," Anthony mumbled. "Just in case…" he quickly wrote down the entire speech that Noct had recited, before putting the paper away. "If we forget exactly what it said, I now have a copy."

"We were planning on going there anyway, but I guess this just confirms it!" Sapphire nodded at Willow's words, but before he could respond, a rumbling noise sounded out. They all looked around before the two statues either side of the tablet cracked. Light shone from within before they shattered. Out of them stride two mummy's, their wrappings shimmering oddly with energy.

"Whoa! Get back!" Sapphire jumped away, getting his bat ready. The first mummy roared and attempted to crush Sapphire between its arms, and Anthony brought his gun up to blast it. Before he could, Noct stepped forward and slammed his hand into its stomach. It bent around his fist in pain, although it didn't let out a grunt of pain due to it not being alive.

Noct than snapped his hand up and slammed the heel of his palm into its 'nose,' sending its head flying back. The wrappings on its neck visibly tore, revealing an empty neck. Noct narrowed his eyes and flipped onto the creature's back, before ripping its head back further. The head was completely torn off, revealing that they were simply empty shells, possibly powered by PSI.

The Shattered Man attempted to grasp him, but Noct flipped away, before placing two fingers against his forehead. "Fire γ!" Compared to Willow's wave of fire, a veritable river of fire poured from his fingertips, completely encompassing the Shattered men. All three of the other Chosen had to jump back in shock, the size of the PSI skill surprising them.

"Whoa!"

"Holy shit!"

"Bloody hell…"

The fire faded, revealing that there was nothing left of the mummies. Noct turned and saw that they had retreated, and quickly knelt. "Apologies Master, I did not mean for you to be within the range of my PSI. I humbly ask for your forgiveness."

"Uh, dude, it's fine. It was pretty awesome!"

"My sincerest thanks."

"Wait," Anthony cut in. "Why didn't you say PSI?"

"Pardon?"

"Whenever Sapphire or Willow use their PSI they say it, PSI Fire, or PSI Hope. Why didn't you?"

Noct blinked, before turning to them. "…saying PSI is not required, Master."

"…it isn't?"

"No. Well, PSI sensitives when they first begin their training use it as a focus, but it is not required."

"Ah. Well then." Sapphire cleared his throat. "Good to know.

"Well, now that that's done, let's get going to Scaraba!" Willow cheered.

"If the boat is ready," Anthony cut in.

"Right."

The boat wasn't ready.

"Damn it," Sapphire groaned, lying on a beach chair. "How much longer do we have to wait?"

"Hm," Anthony hummed as a non-answer, reading the newspaper that the bellhop at the hotel had given them. Noct was meditating in the sand behind them, while Willow was chasing a flock of seagulls.

Because why not.

"You got any books that _aren't _scientific in your bag?"

"None," Anthony answered.

"Come on, there has to be something!"

"Wait a moment."

"I've been waiting for a mo—"

"No, I mean let me read this." Anthony leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

"What's up?"

"Looks like there's been some trouble in Fourside."

"What do you mean?"

"People have reported sightings of a… giant rat in the sewers."

"Well, I guess we're not going back to Fourside," Sapphire quickly interrupted.

"What's this about a rat?" Willow suddenly stuck between their chairs, causing Sapphire yelp.

"Nothing!"

"There's a giant rat terrorizing people in the sewers of Fourside."

"Whoa! Awesome!"

"Not awesome! Giant rat! You should never hear the word 'giant' before 'rat!"

"But we can help people! And I want to fight a giant rat!"

"People have also been getting pictures of mysterious light inside the sewers." He showed them a picture of the tunnels, which had a strange white glow to them.

"And?"

"Well, as you know, I've tried to do some research on PSI. Powerful PSI like you all use is visible to the naked eye, but PSI from Sanctuaries is weak enough that it can't be seen unless you take a photo and put it through a certain process. Looks like whoever took these pictures managed to accidentally use that process and the PSI is visible."

"But what does that mean? It's a giant rat that can use PSI? Great! Even more reason to not go!"

"What that _means. _Is that there's a Sanctuary in Fourside."

"Let's go then!" Willow cheered. Sapphire just groaned. He _absolutely_ did not want to go, but if there was a Sanctuary in Fourside then he should probably go.

"Alright… fine, let's go. At least the boat guy will probably be done with his boat by then."

* * *

Having teleported straight to Fourside, they didn't need to rest from a journey and instead began searching right away for the rat. Anthony searches for where the photos had been taken and found a sewer entrance near the museum.

"And we're _sure_ it's down there?" Sapphire asked, disgusted.

"GERONIMOOOO!" Willow squealed and jumped into the manhole, while Sapphire watched horrified.

"Come on, let's get it over with," Anthony sighed. He climbed down the ladder, and Sapphire shivered before following. Noct was last and calmly stood as Sapphire and Anthony eyes the dirty sewer water with trepidation.

"Let's stay on the walkway," Sapphire muttered, leading the way. "Wils, I want you in front with me. Ant, keep your gun trained on the water in case anything jumps out. Noct, uh, Noct-San, watch our backs and the water with Ant."

"Roger dodger!"

"Got it."

"Master."

As Willow hopped forward, Anthony smirked to himself. "He wants her up there to kill any rats while he screams."

"Is Master afraid of rats?"

Anthony jumped slightly, before nodding. "We both are. Freaky little things."

"I shall pledge to protect Master from rodents as well, then."

"It's so refreshing to have someone serious about things," he sighed happily.

He looked back at the water as ripples appeared before a green ghost burst from the water. It screeched as Anthony sniped it and blasted a hole in its face, before burping out a green gas. He dove to the side, before scrambling back as the ghost attempted to grab him.

Noct jumped forward and slammed a PSI enhanced fist into the back of the ghost, slamming it into the ground. It hissed, before phasing through the ground, causing Noct to watch the area around him cautiously.

The ghost suddenly appeared underneath Sapphire, causing him to yell and fall as it grasped his ankle and prepared to toss him into the sewer water. It was suddenly frozen in place thanks to Willow before Noct smashes it to pieces with a single strike.

"Whoa! Nice job, guys!"

"Piece of cake!"

"I will not fail in protecting you, Master."

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

Anthony adjusted his glasses and sighed. "Come on, let's keep going." The path continued along the river of sludge, and they followed it unbothered by any more monsters, except for the rare violent roach every once in a while. Eventually, however, their path was blocked by several bars.

"Well, what now?" Willow asked.

"There's no way past, except for…" Everyone turned to the sewage.

"Oh HELL no!"

"It seems to be the only way past," Noct hummed. He slipped into the sewage, his taller frame meaning that he only sunk up to his lower chest.

"Canon ball!" Willow jumped in, and Sapphire and Anthony screeched as sewage spewed up onto the walkway.

"I am not going in that!" Sapphire cried stubbornly.

"You can ride on my shoulders, Master," Noct offered. Sapphire grinned, before sighing and shaking his head.

"Noct-San, I'm grateful, but I don't want to take advantage of you like that."

"It is my duty to serve you, I would be happy to carry you."

"You're the one that doesn't want to go in," Anthony muttered, slowly lowering himself in, and shivering at the feeling. "Might as well."

Sapphire grimaced before shaking his head. "No, might as well get in… everyone's doing it after all." He gagged and sank into the muck, feeling bile rise in the back of his throat. "So nasty." As they were all shorter than Noct, the sewage rose to their upper chests, soaking their clothes. "Willow, you're burning these clean when we're done here…"

They made their way through the dirty water, eventually reaching a ladder that led them back onto the walkway. Sapphire and Anthony shivered, the ravenette flaring up with psionic energy to try and dry off, while the blond just held his arms away from his body and convulsed. "Disgusting…"

"I'm covered in shit…"

"Aw, c'mon you two! Quit being babies!" Willow giggled and shook out her hair, sending flecks of murky water flying.

"We should keep moving," Noct intoned.

"Yeah, Yeah…" Sapphire began walking, kicking out to try and get the muck off his shoes, before giving up. "I sure do PSI Hope that the sanctuary cleans us off…"

"I'll smack you," Anthony threatened.

Another ghost attacked, but Noct quickly froze it with ease, and Sapphire _smashed _it to pieces. He groaned when he saw that the walkway was blocked once again, and they had to once again wade through the sewage.

After half an hour of traversing the sewers Of Fourside, they finally felt a small pressure in the backs of their heads. "It's close."

Sapphire nodded at Noct's words, becoming serious. "Everyone be on alert, we don't know where it might come from." They had stopped at a four-way intersection, and they weren't sure where exactly the feeling was coming from.

"So, you've finally arrived! This place was once your Sanctuary, but now it's mine! Take it from me, if you dare!"

The sound of splashing hit their ears, and they all stood back to back. "Get ready…" a giant, probably a six-foot-long rat, suddenly shot out of the murky water and flew straight for Sapphire's face. He screamed but still managed to bring his bat around by sheer baseball playing instinct to _smash _the rat away. Its weight was substantial, Hell, it probably weighed as much as a fully grown man, but his strength was enhanced by his powers, and the rat soared away.

It slammed into a sewer wall and screeched as two Freeze β's and a laser beam slammed into it. It scrambled around before it managed to get its feet underneath itself and hissed. Sapphire was able to get a clearer view of what it looked like while it was still.

Its body was covered by fur colored a sickly grey, with razor-sharp teeth jutting from its mouth. On its back seemed to be a mixture of moss and slime from the sewer water, and it peered at them with tiny eyes. "I'll kill you! For Master Giygas!"

"How about you kill yourself for my sanity?! Flash β!" He fired out a blast of condensed light, which exploded and blinded the rat.

It began thrashing around, trying to somehow damage the Chosen Four, but they were all smart enough to move away. "Fireball β!" Willow blasted it with a superheated ball of flame, which quickly burned through its fur and flesh, but didn't do much more.

Anthony began to explain why, before Noct cut in with a blast of lightning that caused the monster to scream in agony. "It is covered in sewage water, Polestar-San. Our flames will not be as effective."

"Ooh!"

"Use lightning instead!" Sapphire twirled his bat and bashed the rat backward away from it as he ordered Willow.

"Gotcha! Lightning β!" The funnel lit up yellow as arcs of electricity were fired from Willow's fingertips and electrocuted the monster. It thrashed in pain before its eyes alighted on the most vulnerable target. Anthony.

The blond fell back in fear and watched as the giant rat jumped forward, ready to tear him in two, before Noct was suddenly there, wrapping his arms around its neck, and circle-throwing it into the ground. It's weight and momentum meant that the metal bent and cracked, as well as its bones breaking.

It struggled a moment before Noct charged up a ball of PSI in his fist and slammed it through the rat's head and into its brain. The rat stopped struggling and went limp. Noct waited a moment, before nodding and retracting his hand, shaking it to get rid of the brain fluids.

"Whoa! That was awesome, Nocty!" Noct blinked at Willow's nickname, before shrugging.

Sapphire nodded, grinning, before looking at Anthony, still on the ground. "Hey, you alright? Lifeup α."

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine." He accepted his hand with a sigh.

Sapphire furrowed his eyebrows, peering closely at him. "You sure?"

"Yes. Come, we should get to the Sanctuary." Anthony walked away, and Sapphire shrugged.

"Master, if you will forgive me for asking, did Andonuts-Sensei not say that you had an attack, Hope, was it? Why did you not use it?"

"Oh, uh, well…" Sapphire coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's kind of tight in here, and Hope explodes, so I didn't want to accidentally hit any of us… and I can't use it."

"Hm?"

"I don't know! There was… a thing that happened in Fourside a bit ago, and now I can't use Hope!"

"I see… This Hope sounds like your Gift."

"I mean, it kind of _was _my signature move."

"I don't believe I've translated that properly. I shall explain. In my training, I learned of Gifts. Essentially, they were a move that you were especially powerful in. Or perhaps skilled?"

"Something only you could use?"

"No, everyone with PSI can learn every power, but your Gift is a power that you create through your deepest beliefs and desires. You can teach it to others, but when you first use it, it's something only you have. Besides that, only you would be able to use it at its most powerful. Its Omega level. That is why it is known as a Gift."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why only I can use it when I first learn it." They came upon a ladder leading up and began climbing.

"Because it is linked to the deepest part of your psyche. It is important to you. It is named Hope, so that means Hope is something you wish to never let go of, and believe can guide you through any turmoil. Of course, many a time a Gift is named after something else, even if it has to do with a core emotion or desire. I have heard of Gifts named after concepts like PSI Infinity or PSI Hellwave. Although those just may be because the users wanted to be cool. I've even heard of a PSI Rockin'."

"Man, I feel bad for whoever had their attack named after a Rock," Willow giggled.

"I think that was like 'Rock and Roll.'"

"Ooh. You think anyone had an attack named after rolling?" Everyone ignored her.

"Back on track. Whatever happened shook your faith in your hope."

"How do I get it back?"

"You most likely already have. But you believe that you haven't, so your Hopes simply fizzle out whenever you attempt to attack. These Sanctuaries are places of healing for you, not just places to strengthen you. Perhaps it will help soothe your mind."

"Maybe." They finally reached the top of the ladder, and Sapphire pushed aside a blockage. It felt like a manhole or something, but whatever it was, it was easy enough to lift. Light streamed in, and they climbed out to find themselves in a small area filled with grass and surrounded by buildings on all sides.

"It's like a secret park!" Willow giggled, twirling around as a small breeze ruffled her dress.

"It's nice, I suppose," Anthony murmured.

Sapphire ignored them all, walking forward to a small rock formation in the center of the area, which he instinctively knew was what he went there for. It sparkled slightly, and he could feel the metal objects he wore move towards it, meaning it was magnetic. He was strong enough to ignore the pull, and knelt, pulling out the Sound Stone.

As it began playing, a brief flash of an image appeared in his mind. It was a baby's bottle, colored light blue with stars on it, with the cap being dark blue. He could hear faint voices talking, his father and his mother.

"_Shh… he's asleep."_

"_Finally. How do babies cry so loud when they're so tiny?"_

_A giggle. "He'll probably be as loud as you are when you're excited when he's older. Maybe he'll have a career in something like singing!"_

"_Ha! Either way… I just hope that he's happy."_

His mind began clearing. So what that Nightmare was still there? No matter how strong the thing was, it couldn't stop him from hoping for a better tomorrow, for a world where his family and his friends were safe. A world where despair had no place.

Hope γ

Another brief flash. He saw a place high above the ground, formed entirely from clouds. The ground wasn't visible, and it seemed like the area was in a void of nothing, peacefully floating.

He opened his eyes and breathed in, idly noticing that his clothes had been fixed, and all of the sewage was gone. He looked down at the Sound Stone to see another indent filled in, this one with the magnetic structure. He lifted his free hand and clenched it, willing energy into it. "Hope γ." It crackled, before suddenly lighting up, causing him to grin. "I'm back."

"Nicely done, Master."

Sapphire smirked and raised the Sound Stone high. "I'm Sapphire, and I've claimed this Sanctuary!"

* * *

**All right, I'm pretty sure Dalaam is supposed to be some floating islands or whatever, but making it exist on a mountain seemed better, especially for the Pink Cloud dungeon where you go down several times, and should fall through the bottom of Dalaam if it really floated. **

**Also, Prince Noct/Poo. Yeah, in Earthbound everyone speaks English (or whatever language you get the game in) But it would make more sense for there to be different languages and dialects, since besides different names for things like Eagleland for America and highly advanced tech that only a few people have, the world seems pretty similar to earth. in any case, using the power of PSI to get around this seems natural. It's a power of the mind, so why couldn't you read someone's mind and learn their language that way? Honestly, a lot of the crap I'm doing with PSI is half logic, and half rule-of-cool, but I at least try and make the RoC make some sense too.**

**The training of Mu was pretty weird in-game. But I had fun coming up with explanations for what the hell was happening during it. The Trial of Despair was what I came up with. And Gifts are my reasonings for people having their own powers. Sapphire's Hope, Noct's (eventual) Starstorm, Love for Lucas in Mother Three, all unique things to them. But, since Ness and Lucas learn Starstorm in Smash, I figure unique and signature attacks can be learned, but you can't learn their ultimate form (Omega versions) unless you specifically are the person who 'created' the attack, as it resonates deeply with your core beliefs.**

**Anyway, that's pretty much it. I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. **

**See y'all next time. **


	22. Chapter 22: Sand-Dust Crusaders

Chapter Twenty-Two: Sand-Dust Crusaders

After exiting the Sanctuary, Sapphire had explained his vision of what the next one looked like, hoping that Noct had some idea of what it was. Luckily, he did. "So, you know where this cloud place is?"

Noct nodded. "Indeed. It sounded like the Pink Cloud."

"Whoa, that sounds pretty!"

"It is a sacred place, that can only be entered from the southern tip of Dalaam. My Sensei told me that I can only enter with the other Chosen Four."

"Looks like we're heading straight to Dalaam then. Come on, let's get going!" They made their way to the streets of Fourside before Noct got into a runner's stance and used Teleport, explaining that since Sapphire hadn't physically been to Dalaam he couldn't teleport.

As they appeared in Dalaam, Willow and Sapphire began shivering, the high altitude of the village too cold for their liking. Anthony took it a bit better than them, but the high altitude made him somewhat dizzy.

"Come, I'll lead you to the sacred place." Noct began walking down a path to the south, and the other Chosen began following. As they did, they noticed the various people around them watching Noct with awe.

"You know, I know mentally that you're a prince, but it didn't click until now…" Sapphire muttered, watching as women swooned and the guys looked on in a mix of awe and jealousy.

"You jelly that he's getting so much attention?" Willow giggled.

"Hey, I'm totally popular with the ladies!" Sapphire cried. It didn't help his case that his voice decided to crack. He cleared his throat as Willow's laughter redoubled.

She watched him speed walk ahead to walk next to Noct while pouting and crossing his arms. Well, he at least was right about being popular with one girl. Willow smiled slightly and felt a blush creep onto her face. How she could be so energetic and outgoing about killing monsters and running through the sewers, yet turn into a stammering schoolgirl at the thought of romance, she had no idea.

"Tell him," Anthony smirked next to her, nudging her slightly.

"Nope," she shot back.

"Gotta do it eventually. It does no one any good when our main PSI fighter bottles up her emotions. Who knows when they can explode out?"

"Yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes with a smile.

"I'm no romance guru, but one thing I know is true from movies and books is that if you don't tell him, someone else will snatch him up." He nodded his head towards some of the women watching the party walk down the dirt road. Most were focused on Noct. However, some were watching Sapphire, realizing that if he was walking so close to the Prince and was engaging him in conversation, well, he talked, Noct listened, then he was probably someone important. Hell, a few were even looking at him!

Willow pouted and glared at the women watching Sapphire. "I'd like to see them try…" She grumbled. Anthony just snorted and kept walking.

They passed where Noct had finished his training, the Place of Emptiness, and began following a fainter path southwest. It led to a small cave entrance, with three odd rabbit statues blocking the way. "Your PSI," Noct spoke. "Use it." Sapphire lifted a hand and looked at it, before placing it on the lead statue. He pulsed energy through it, and all three statues began glowing, before disintegrating.

"Nice!"

With the path cleared, they quickly entered and looked around. The cave seemed like any other that they'd explored, dark and grey. An orb of light suddenly shot around a corner, and the party tensed. "Everyone get ready," Sapphire warned. The orb seemingly spotted them and flew forwards. Sapphire ducked under it as it shot overhead before it slowed and turned. The light disappeared, and what looked to be a snake with a humanoid head and arms holding a flute appeared. "Well, I know what'll be showing up in my nightmares…"

The creature laughed wickedly before a cloud of poisonous gas blew from its flute. They all leaped apart to dodge the gas before Anthony brought his gun up and blasted the flute. It shattered, and the creature howled in rage. But, as it was distracted, Willow snuck up behind it and bashed it on the head with her pan. It screeched and fell, crawling away until Noct stomped down.

"The Tangoo. A man led astray by whispers of power from the devil disguised as a snake and transformed into a snake himself. Ancient Dalaam folktale."

"Is Giygas creating these creatures from myths with his power? We've heard rumors of a Kraken of the coast of Toto and Summers…" Anthony mumbled and crossed his arms.

"I guess we should be ready for some weirder enemies then. I mean, old myths have some really weird things in them."

"Yep."

They continued through the cave until the crackling of electricity drew their ears. Around the corner came a man, but he was wreathed in electricity. He looked to have a massive grin on his face until they realized that it was simply his skull shining through his skin. "Help… me…"

"Oh god," Sapphire whispered.

"Giygas seems to have found a PSI sensitive to use against us. One that can harness some form of PSI Thunder." Noct's expression softened from its usual strictness. "Poor soul."

"Can't we help him?!" Willow asked.

Anthony scrambled around in his bag, before grabbing the device he'd used to take away Sapphire's PSI. "Firing!" A wave of light washed over the man, but his skin kept crackling. "Why didn't it work?!" The man suddenly lunged forward, his screech distorted like TV static. Noct dodged, and the man tumbled onto the ground before getting up again.

"When you use PSI at too high of a level for your body, your body tries to adapt to allow it. Most of the time you'll simply erupt as your body can't contain it, but other times there will be physical changes. Using Fire at too high a level causing your body to melt. Freeze, and your body transforms to unmeltable ice. Thunder, and, well…"

The screech of the man easily filled in the blanks.

"Simply put, his entire body is made of PSI now. Your PSI deactivater won't work."

"So there's no way to help?!"

"No. The best thing we can do is put him down."

"What?! No! I'll kill monsters and animals that can't be saved, but this is a person!"

"He isn't any different from those monsters or animals. He is not in control of himself and in immense pain. The kindest thing to do would be to put him down." Sapphire grit his teeth and looked away.

Before he could decide, the electrifying man chose for them. He leaped forward, unleashing a scream as even more energy seemed to crackle from his skin. Noct stepped forward, aiming his palm at the man. "Freeze β." The man was turned into a frozen sculpture and when he struck the ground, he shattered. "Trying not to kill, but instead save people, is admirable. But sometimes, it is impossible."

"Yeah… let's… let's keep moving."

* * *

The rest of the journey through the caves went surprisingly easily. Most of the enemies inside used some form of electricity to fight them, but the Franklin Badge from back in Happy-Happy was finally showing its use once again by letting Sapphire jump in front of his friends to deflect the bolts of lightning.

It helped that he was already the team's designated tank, and was used to jumping in front of blows.

Along the way they found several holes, and, with no other paths to take, they threw caution to the wind and jumped down them. The first hole they took led them straight back to the entrance, which caused them to grumble and groan as they backtracked to where they'd fallen.

The next hole they took dropped them into the center of a group of Tangoo's, which hissed and got ready to blow poisonous gas at them. Willow quickly reacted by summoning a ring of Fire β around them, burning up the gas and then the monsters themselves.

They quickly realized they were on a small cliff, with a rope leading down tied to the top. They grabbed onto it and began shuffling downward, to find more electrifying men. "H-h-h-h-h—" they all stuttered through their words, the electricity preventing them from speaking properly.

Sapphire grimaced, before aiming. "Flash γ." Sapphire had learned a new rank of Flash while exploring the caves, and something he had quickly learned about it was its ability to instantly kill an opponent. It had a low chance of happening, but if he had to kill these people, he'd prefer to do it quickly and painlessly.

The men vanished after the light exploded, and they entered another room to find a small pedestal with two bracers on it. They were gold, with a ring of jewels around the wrists. Noct's eyes widened, and he quickly picked them up. "Maybe be more careful about traps next time," Anthony warned.

"These are the Bracers of Kings!"

"Whats of the whosits?"

"They are part of an ancient set… one of my ancestors arrogantly assumed he was one of the Chosen Four spoken of in prophecy, as he had powerful PSI, but he never returned after he set out. He took with him a powerful set of armor and weaponry, made up of the Diadem of Kings, the Cloak of Kings, the Bracers of Kings, and the Sword of Kings. Why are these here? And why displayed on a pedestal?"

"Well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, go ahead and put 'em on. After all, you _are_ a Chosen." Noct nodded and slipped on the bracers, feeling a rush of power. "Now, let's keep moving."

The rest of the journey went about as easily. They encountered several small cloud-like enemies that Willow gushed over before they blasted her with lightning. There were several more electrifying men and Tangoo's, which at one point managed to poison Sapphire before he healed himself, but other than that it went smoothly.

"I feel it…" Sapphire breathed out, narrowing his eyes. "The Sanctuary is nearby. And the Guardian." Ahead, the cave seemed to narrow until it reached a small doorway. Some light streamed through, along with some sparks of electricity. "Let's go."

They walked forward, until not one, but two voices reached their ears, and they all got ready for battle. "So you've finally reached it…"

"This is the sixth of your Sanctuaries…"

"But it is ours now!"

"Take it from us, if you dare!"

"'Us?'" Willow questioned.

Out of the darkness came two creatures, entwined with each other. One had a thin human head and was colored bright yellow, while the other had a fatter head and was colored white. Before the Chosen Four could prepare, they both raised their arms and cast a Crashing Boom Bang Attack.

"Back up!" Sapphire stepped forward and let everyone step behind him, shielding them with his body and Franklin Badge. The blasts, one after another, were sucked into the badge causing it to glow, before being blasted back at the Guardians. They screeched as they were shocked by their own attack, apparently not immune to electricity despite being able to blast it about.

"Anthony, distance! Willow, you too! Focus on dealing damage! Me and Noct-San'll get in close! I've got the Franklin Badge, and he's tough!" They all followed his orders, Anthony running back and vaulting over a rock for cover, while Willow just backed away, needing more room for her destructive attacks.

"Hyah!" Sapphire leaped forward and delivered a blow to the head of the fat one, while Noct delivered a jab to the throat of the thin one. The thin one gagged and coughed, before swiping at the warrior prince. He blocked, his bracers deflecting the hit easily without a scratch appearing.

The two intertwined creatures suddenly began spinning, and a whirlwind appeared, buffeting Sapphire and Noct. They were slowly pushed back, but even with the winds whipping at him and creating tears in his clothing and cuts on his skin, Sapphire grinned. He felt it deep within, his new power begging to be unleashed. His Hopes realized!

"Alright, let's test this baby out!" Sapphire lowered his arms, having used them to defend his face, and instead aimed both at the Guardians. "Hope γ!" His arms lit up, but they didn't start bleeding as they had back in Belch's base. As the energy blasted forward, the cave lit up with colors brighter than any of his Hopes before.

The light show blasted the two creatures back, exploding and slamming them into a wall. The cave shook, and various stalactites hanging from the ceiling began falling, one of which even pierced the yellow Guardian. It screeched, before lunging forward and wrapping around Sapphire's body.

"Master!" Noct held off on attacking, all of his PSI too destructive to only hit the enemy, and not Sapphire. Anthony raised his gun and bit his lip, before firing and piercing the fatter Guardian's head. As they screeched at him, Sapphire wiggled his arms free and moved the Guardians aside to show off the Franklin Badge.

"Noct-San, Willow! Blast it!"

"Righty-o!"

"Hai!"

"Thunder β!" They shouted and blasted lightning forward at the same time, swirling into the badge and causing it to light up. The badge vibrated, almost like it couldn't handle the voltage, before it blasted it back out in a massive storm. Thunder and Storm screamed as Sapphire jumped out of their hold, rolling back to safety.

The monsters screeched and attempted to lunge after him, but an explosion on the ceiling suddenly caused several stalactites to fall and pierce their bodies. Sapphire looked back to see Anthony smirk as he lowered a spent rocket, and he turned back to the wounded Guardians, powering up his arms. "Any last words?"

"You—"

"Nah, don't care! Hope γ!" The psychedelic explosion went off, and as the smoke cleared, the mangled bodies of the Guardians were laid out on the floor. "Oh, I'm really liking this new level of power."

"Nice job, Master."

"We really showed 'em!"

"Come on, let's go see that Sanctuary!" Sapphire walked through the doorway the Guardians had been guarding, to see a vast sea of clouds. "Whoa, we're high up."

"Dalaam does not have much contact with the outside world for a reason."

"It's so pretty!"

Sapphire looked down and realized that they had been standing on a cloud as they talked. "Uh… I'm pretty sure this isn't physically possible."

Anthony knelt and touched the cloud. "We should be falling straight through this… how are we standing on this?"

"PSI," Sapphire, Willow, and Noct replied all at once.

"In case you haven't forgotten I'm not psionic."

"No, the Sanctuary numbnuts." Sapphire snickered and walked forward. "It's obviously affecting the cloud or something. Or maybe because it's a Sanctuary you can walk on it." Sapphire breathed in and felt energy flow through him, before grabbing the Sound Stone from his pocket.

As the melody played out, he saw a short vision of his mother and father, much younger, looking down at him in his crib. After the vision ended, he saw another vision, this one of a hall of lights, blinking on and off.

He blinked himself, looking down to see that the Sound Stone had finished recording the melody. "Are you going to do the whole, 'this is my Sanctuary' thing?"

"Yes, yes, yes, oh my god!"

"I am Sapphire, and I've claimed this Sanctuary!"

"Yeah, Yeah. I just hope that the boat is ready."

* * *

_Finally, _the ship was ready to sail. In fact, it had been just a few hours beforehand. After the Photoman took a picture near the museum, which was where they had exited the sewers from after leaving the Sanctuary, and another picture before they got on the boat, they began sailing south.

Sapphire and Willow were napping on two chairs on the deck of the small boat, while Noct meditated and Anthony studied the inscription from the museum. He looked somewhat frustrated with it, trying to figure out what was simply flowery language, and what was actual instructions.

The captain was by the wheel of the boat, humming as he watched the waves. Of course, he wasn't fully enjoying the ride. He knew that the Kraken was around the area somewhere. It could attack at any moment. At least, at the moment, it was calm enough.

GRAAAAGGHHHHH!

Or not.

Sapphire shrieked as he was awoken by an astonishingly loud roar and the spray of water as something breached next to the boat. A figure blocked out the sun, and they all looked up to see a massive figure towering over the boat. It was shaped like a… well, a giant sea serpent. A giant snake-like being with brown scales and green fins, no eyes, and a mouth with giant fangs. It screeched down at them, causing them all to cover their ears.

GRAAAAGGHHHHH!

"Alright, let's take this thing down! Willow, Freeze the water!"

"Roger dodger!" Willow jumped onto the railing, waving her arms as she overbalanced, before blasting a ray of ice at the waves splashing against the ship. They began freezing over, sending small broken pieces of ice flying. The ice quickly spread around the Kraken, causing it to hiss as some spread up its wet scales, before beginning to thrash around and break the ice.

Sapphire jumped down and yelled, winding up. He _smashed _his bat into the side of the Kraken, causing it to grunt slightly, as even with his strength the Kraken was much larger. It leaned back before swiping with its head, throwing him back into the side of the boat and denting it, while also shattering the ice underfoot. He gasped for air quickly, before he felt himself become submerged underwater. He blinked, holding his breath, as he saw the tail of the serpent snapping about underwater.

He grinned, before swimming over to it. It suddenly swung at him and he backpedaled quickly, narrowly avoiding the tip. He poured energy into his hands and suddenly he was blasted forwards. He let out a whoop, before closing his mouth as seawater got in. He latched onto its tail as he shot past, before digging one hand underneath its scales. _Hope β!_

Its tail lit up, before the end completely exploded. The pain caused it to snap the remaining piece of its tail up and sent him flying out of the water and into the air. He yelled as he tumbled midair, before a spike of ice shot through the back of his shirt, pulling him along and sticking him to the side of the Kraken's head. He looked down to see Noct holding up a hand with cold air leaking from it, who then nodded.

He grinned back, before turning to see that the Kraken was looking directly at him. "Sup?" It roared, and a great gout of flame rushed out. He yelped, sliding off the icicle, before grabbing it and swinging away. The fire barely brushed the soles of his shoes, and he grasped the railing of the boat as he fell past. Noct hauled him up, and he glanced back at the beast. It was gathering fire in its mouth, and he groaned.

"Great, more fire… Anthony, ideas?!"

"I-I don't know, we haven't even pierced its scales! Well, pierced deep enough to draw blood… it doesn't have eyes to focus on… I can't fire any rockets or bombs into its mouth because the fire would cause them to detonate prematurely…"

Noct stepped up as fire washed down over the boat. "PSI Shield γ!" A massive shield suddenly surrounded the boat, and the fire washed away. Noct, for the first time, looked strained, due to the pressure of holding it up.

Sapphire grit his teeth, watching the Kraken. "We can't let the boat get destroyed… Noct-San, can you keep the shield up?"

"If you require it, Master."

"No, not if I require it. _Can you keep it up?"_

He narrowed his eyes and nodded. "I can."

"Alright. Willow, help provide cover just in case. I'm going up there." He leaped off the boat and grabbed onto one of the Kraken's scales, before scrambling up its body. It didn't seem to notice him until he was above its mouth. It seemed to finally feel him and reeled back, causing him to scream and grasp onto one of its teeth.

It suddenly breathed in and blew out a powerful gust of wind, causing a practical tornado to appear. Sapphire flew up, before gritting his teeth and letting more energy gather into his hands. "Let's finish this with a bang!" The Kraken stopped creating a tornado and screamed as lightning suddenly shot out of the shield around the ship, from Willow's hands.

Sapphire was able to fall and landed on one of its fangs, slightly cracking it, before aiming down its throat with both arms. "Now, Hope γ!" The power he blasted out once again made the previous version of Hope seem like a simple firecracker against powerful fireworks.

Blue, red, and gold shot down the body of the Kraken, lighting it up from the inside out. It screamed as it was torn apart from the inside, blood bursting from its sides. Sapphire grinned, before yelping as it began toppling over. He fell, and Noct managed to snag his leg as he fell past. "Well done, Master."

"Ehehehe!" He snickered as he hung there. "I am pretty awesome! Now, uh, can you pull me up?" He got back onto the boat and grinned. "Nice job everyone! I feel like we've gotten back into the swing of things now! The rat from Fourside wasn't really a challenge…" All of the PSI sensitives suddenly felt a rush of power and stumbled. "Whoa, that was a rush!"

Noct groaned, before straightening up. "Psionics grow in strength by using their powers or practicing. However, it seems we also grow stronger when we defeat a creature controlled or created by Giygas…"

"Yeah, we've known that for a while, but I guess this is your first kill on something made by Giygas."

"Yes, but why?" The prince crossed his arms. "Why does defeating one of Giygas' minions power us up? Are we absorbing their power? And if so, what does that mean for us? Are we not absorbing his evil energy if that is, in fact, the case?"

"I… hadn't thought of that."

Anthony blinked in shock. _Why didn't I think of that?! And we've already traveled together for a while… what if my friends were in danger because I hadn't thought up this hypothesis yet?!_

"Well, not much we can do, can we?" Willow shrugged. "I mean, we can't _not _defeat enemies."

"I suppose so. Still, it's something to keep in mind."

"Nicely done kids! Now, let's get going to Scaraba!" The sailor suddenly interrupted them, and Sapphire smiled.

"Come on. Let's try and relax for a bit. Who knows what'll happen in Scaraba?"

* * *

"Aw fuck, more sand…"

"Well, we knew there'd be more eventually. And we've gotta get through it to reach the pyramid!"

"I believe they said it was to the south, correct?"

"Hm?" Anthony looked up and nodded. "Ah, yes. It's located somewhere to the south."

"'Somewhere,'" Sapphire mocked. "It's a giant triangle, we can see it from here." He pointed to the distance where a pyramid towered above the desert sands.

"You know there are multiple pyramids in the world, right?" Anthony asked. "Even Scaraba has a few near to it, not just one."

"I guess we'll have to investigate them all then."

It was about a thirty-minute trek through the desert, with only a few encounters against undead scorpions and alien creatures, but they were otherwise unbothered by the time they had reached the pyramids. There were several smaller ones, but they walked towards the largest one with a sphinx in front of a closed entrance.

"Healing β." Anthony rolled his shoulders as Sapphire's healing energy flowed through him and relieved him of his sunstroke. "So, what were we supposed to do again?"

"I dunno, something about dancing." Willow began spinning in place. "Ya think this is good enough?"

The rest of the Chosen stared at her, before turning to each other. "It had something to do with the diagram right?"

"Correct, Master. Andonuts-Sensei?"

"Yeah, got it." The blond fished through his bag, grabbing the papers he had written on in the museum. "Let's see… here it is." They all looked over his shoulder, seeing the small diagram he'd drawn. His art skills were quite impressive, having perfectly copied the same drawing and intricate hieroglyphics from the tablet.

"So… these are numbers, yeah? So are we supposed to go in a certain order?"

"I suppose… I don't think we need to actually dance, but rather follow these steps… perhaps there are pressure plates, and we have to step on them in the correct order?"

As they looked it over, Sapphire turned to the Sphinx which looked down upon them. He suddenly felt a twinge in the back of his head and winced. "_Are you a thief, a warrior, or one who has come to see my majesty?"_

Sapphire shook his head, instinct taking over. While Noct and Anthony spoke to each other in the center of the small stone entranceway, and Willow spun in place, Sapphire walked forward. He stepped down onto a hidden pressure plate, before turning and walking to another. This continued until he'd stepped on five pressure plates in total, arranged in a star formation.

Once all of them had been pressed down, the stone ground lit up, blue lines of energy flowing underneath the pathway until it had formed a star, which led towards the entranceway of the pyramid that quickly opened.

"_Warriors, enter now. Search for the Hawk's Eye." _Sapphire nodded, walking towards the entrance.

"Alright! I've figured it out!" Anthony looked up and smirked before his face fell. "Oh come on."

"My dancing worked!" Willow cheered.

"I am most sure that it was, in fact, _not _your dancing that opened the way."

"Oh hush."

They quickly followed their leader, not noticing the photo man taking a picture of them entering the pyramid with determined gazes.

Inside, they were greeted by yellow sandstone and hieroglyphs, along with a depressing sense of scale, the ceiling seemingly pressing down on them and the walls closing in, choking them. Having claustrophobia would not be fun within the pyramid.

Sapphire looked around as he walked through the dark hall, lighting up his hand just in time to see a large spider, maybe the size of his face, jump straight at him. "OH SHIT!" He grabbed his bat with his free hand and smacked it aside, slamming it into the stone walls and sending a splatter of purple blood splashing across the hall.

More quickly followed, spitting poison from their fangs. "Fire β!" The hall was filled with fire, turning some of the loose sand into glass, and melting some of the stone. Once the wave died down, the charred carcasses of the spiders lay on the ground. Sapphire screeched and jumped back as their legs twitched, curling against their stomachs.

"Calm down, that's what all arachnids do when they die. It's a reflex."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Yeah. At least I'm useful for something."

"What?"

"Nothing, let's keep going." Sapphire raised an eyebrow before continuing through the dark halls. They passed several sarcophagi, all adorned with different symbols from the dead civilization. "So, we've got a few Sanctuaries in the past few days. I assumed it would take us at least half of a month to get the rest, but it seems like our rate of finding them has increased."

"Mostly due to Master's and I's Teleport PSI. The past few Sanctuaries have been in places either I or one of us have been, and since we can teleport to these places we can reach them near instantly."

"I bet we can beat Giygas by the end of the month!" Willow jumped up and spread her arms.

"Master."

"Maybe we can do it by my birthday," Sapphire laughed. "It's coming up soon."

"Master."

"Oh! Really? We totally need to throw a party!"

"Mas—"

"ENEMIES!" Sapphire blinked and turned around to see Noct holding back a mummy, while Anthony was scrambling away.

"Oh." He jumped forward and _smashed _the head off of the mummy attacking Noct, letting the prince grab the shattered man attacking Anthony, slamming a palm through its wrappings and lighting it up from the inside. "I guess we need to watch out for more mummies."

The next room they entered was covered in hieroglyphs, wall to wall and ceiling to the floor of the ancient drawings. "Well, someone's parents must have been pissed."

"Don't make fun of history! Think about how much we could learn from this! No one's entered this pyramid in a thousand years!"

The room suddenly started trembling, before the same blue lines that had activated the door outside began flowing through the room. They intersected with several hieroglyphs, which began glowing themselves. The Chosen Four prepared for what looked to be an incoming battle but were not prepared for the hieroglyphs to jump off of the walls.

"What." The creatures didn't give anyone any time to answer Sapphire's flat-toned question, instead immediately jumping forward to attack. One shaped like a jackal with a spear thrust its weapon forward, which Noct deflected with a simple raise of his hands, before grabbing the haft with his arm and snapping it against his body. He jabbed the creature's neck, but since it was a hieroglyph and didn't need to breathe it did nothing, so he instead grabbed the spear tip he had broke off and stabbed it through the head.

"Thunder β!"

"Flash γ!" The room lit up, one-half white, the other yellow, as Sapphire and Willow stood back to back and launched their attacks, frying or disintegrating their enemies. Anthony stood near the back taking potshots, occasionally killing an enemy. A hieroglyph with a sword suddenly jumped at him, causing him to fall back and the sword to narrowly miss him, only cutting off some of his bangs.

"S-Shit!" He raised his gun and blasted a hole in it, letting out a relieved sigh as it disintegrated. He looked around to see that everyone had cleaned up the rest of the room easily, and felt a pang of disappointment for some reason. Sapphire noticed him on the ground and jogged over, offering a hand.

He grasped it, feeling energy flow through him as Sapphire healed him. "Ready to keep going?"

"Yeah."

The next hallways all led up, a series of stairs leading to the summit of the pyramid. They reached a small room with a pedestal in the center, a broken sarcophagus lying on it. Sapphire jumped up and looked inside, only to see nothing of note. "I guess we have to keep going up."

"Shouldn't we be going down though? I mean, aren't pyramids all underground or something?"

"Technically yes, Willow, however, they were constructed with crisscrossing paths to kill tomb robbers, we just haven't found a separating path yet. Perhaps we will soon, but we most assuredly must take the one going down."

"Or maybe up," Sapphire shrugged. "After all, this pyramid isn't exactly built to protect a pharaoh or something, it was built for the Hawk's Eye and to help us."

There was a sudden rumbling and Sapphire furrowed his brows before his danger sense told him to jump back. He did so with a yelp, watching as the pedestal he stood on collapsed, and a Goliath of a man stood up. It was made entirely of stone, and its torso alone was perhaps six feet in length, and four in width, which combined with its large legs and head, meant it towered over them.

"What an absolute unit."

"Could you not? For five minutes?!"

The thing roared, swinging down a mighty fist to try and crush them. They all dove aside, with Sapphire executing a perfect shoulder roll onto his hands and knees. "Holy crap, that was awesome! Uh, anyway! Let's take this guy down! "

"Launching a bottle rocket!" Anthony readied his weapon and fired, sending the destructive weapon flying into the creature's chest before erupting. It cracked, but instead of falling over dead it roared and slammed down its arms in an attempt to crush the blond. He scrambled out of the way, while Noct hit it with a Freeze.

Its left arm froze over, allowing Sapphire to jump up and slam his bat down, shattering it. He dodged a swing from the rock monster's remaining arm, readying himself for another attack. "Willow!"

"On it~! Freeze β!" The monster's other arm was quickly frozen over as well, before Noct ran up and jumped onto it, slamming down his hand to sever it at the shoulder. It fell off, shattering into dozens of icy pieces on the ground.

"Together!"

Willow and Noct launched a double Freeze, icing up its torso, and then its whole body. "Now, begone! Hope γ!" Like a bomb had erupted inside of its chest, the monster exploded, its new fragility no match for Sapphire's powerful Gift. "Woohoo!"

"Impressive, Master. Truly a powerful attack."

"Come on, we already saw it against the sparky guys at the pink cloud and the Kraken! But still, we were super cool!"

Anthony smiled, watching. His friends really were strong. His smile wavered, looking away. But, unfortunately, it seemed like their strength meant he was becoming much less useful. Sapphire was becoming confident and smart in his leading ability, Willow was a powerhouse, and Noct was knowledgeable on PSI, where he was previously making guesses on how it worked to help his friends.

"Ant? Ant, you ready?"

"…Yeah. Let's go."

"…Noct, scout ahead. Willow, watch our backs. Ant, stay with me in the middle."

"I understand, Master."

"You got it!"

Anthony frowned as Noct ascended the stairs ahead, while Willow lagged behind. "Sapphire—"

"Something's wrong, and as leader, it's my duty to find out what and help you." He grinned. "So, confide in me! That's an order!"

"…I…"

"What's that? You're fine? Uh oh, my bullshit sensors are going off!"

"God, you're annoying… fine, I feel… I feel like I'm not much use right now."

"What? Didn't we go over this plot point already? Your dad—"

"Stuff it, it's not that. Doctor Andonuts and I… I think we'll be getting along better. It's not him that's making me feel useless, it's this team!" He explained how he felt that everyone had some part of his role now, and he was just the guy who stood at the back, taking potshots but not doing anything important to help.

"Ant, you know we don't feel like that! We totally feel like you're useful!"

"Maybe you feel like that, but I don't… I mean, what did I even do in that last fight? Shoot a rocket? It barely cracked it! You three took it down with three attacks! It would have taken me half an hour to do that much!"

"…" Sapphire looked away, not sure what he could say. "I… uh…" he struggled, flailing his hands uselessly in front of him, trying to articulate something, anything.

"You are useless." Sapphire snapped his head forward to see Noct looking down at them. "Andonuts-Sensei, you may be teaching me, but in battle, you have no use."

"Noct!" Sapphire furrowed his brow and snapped at the older boy, pointing at him. "What the fuck?! Why would you say that?!"

"Because it is the truth." Noct shook his head. "He has no PSI, which means he doesn't have superhuman strength nor reflexes, and while his intelligence is greater than all of ours, in battle you are already learning how to strategize properly, meaning that role has been taken from him. Doing large amounts of damage in a short period of time is something we can all do, but with three of us with PSI the chances of us running out and Anthony having to step in with his rockets is low."

Anthony looked down to the side, his heart clenching as frustrated tears came to his eyes. He couldn't even refute the points. It had been what he was thinking for a while, after all. He looked up when he heard a _thwacking _noise, and saw Sapphire had grabbed Noct by the collar and was holding him against the wall. "**You want to keep going? 'Cause I'm _really _not feeling like being merciful right now."**

Noct ignored Sapphire's grip and Nightmare's tone, still looking at Anthony. "But should you give up? No. Our PSI is a cheat. It allows us strength and speed without needing to train. But if you were to train, you might not be able to get to our level, but you would be able to take care of yourself. And your mind? It is greater than all of ours combined. With your technical aptitude, I'm sure you could take us all down without trouble. Your doubt in yourself is holding you back, just as Sapphire's Despair held him back." He smiled, and Anthony realized that the boy didn't smile much. If at all. "You have a Gift, Anthony. Make use of it."

"…Sapphire, put him down." Sapphire looked at him, eyes mainly black but with swirls of Nightmare's gold. "It's okay. When we're out of here… I promise to better myself until I'm useful to all of you. Noct opened my eyes."

Sapphire breathed out through his nose, before setting Noct down. His eyes slowly started to lose the golden sheen, and he sheepishly smiled at Noct. "Uh, sorry for threatening you…"

"No, I must apologize, Master. I insulted your friend, and I shall accept any punishment without question."

"Dude, calm down. It's fine."

"Group hug!" Willow suddenly jumped up the stairs onto Anthony's back, causing him to help and fall forward. Noct caught him, and Sapphire grinned before wrapping his arms around him and Anthony, trapping them all into a hug.

"I am uncomfortable."

"This is your punishment!"

"then I shall accept it without complaint."

"Ugh…" Anthony groaned, before smirking and shifting so Sapphire and Willow's cheeks were smushed together. She glared at him and blushed, while he smirked back. "Payback," he mouthed.

* * *

**Considering this story, in-universe, has only been going for maybe less than two weeks, and Anthony barely made up with the Doc a day earlier in the story, his DEEP SEATED ISSUES ain't exactly going to up and vanish. I don't really like that in stories, where with just one speech, a character's flaws vanish because **_**friendship. **_

**Since I'm new at writing I might make some mistakes where a character seems to have gotten past their issues when I mean for them to still be stewing over them until a good point in the story where it'd be addressed, so hopefully, I can get better at that. **

**Anyways, leave a review about what you liked or just a 'nice.' both are cool.**

**See y'all next time.**


	23. Chapter 23: Let Him Out to Play

Chapter Twenty-Three: Let Him Out to Play

"On your left!" Sapphire dodged as a hieroglyph wielding an ax tried to bash his head in. Before it could attack again a laser blazed through it, turning it to dust.

"Nice shot! Willow, create a wall of fire like you do for ice and incinerate them! Noct-San, fall back!" Noct heeded his words and jumped back with him as Willow stepped forward, creating a massive wall of roiling flames, before pushing it forward and incinerating the hallway infested with spiders.

"Alright, let's keep going!" They charged forward, re-energized after the moment they had earlier. They quickly entered another square room, this one with two statues that looked exactly like the golem they had fought in the first room, except their color was slightly different.

"These things must be some kind of Royal Guardians. Given how the Scarabian pyramids have never been explored like the ones in Egypt, due to the entrances being unopenable until now, we have no idea how they guarded their dead pharaohs."

Sapphire walked up to them and inspected them, tilting his head. "Maybe they won't activate? They look a bit different, so they might just be for decoration."

"Try touching them!" Willow chirped.

He paused, before grinning. He spun and raised both hands, tapping the statues as he posed. "Awaken, my masters!"

"Enough with the stupid references," Anthony grumbled.

The statues suddenly rumbled, before they began charging at them. "Incoming!" Noct warned.

"SHIELD β!" The shield around him glowed bright, and when the golem brought its fist down, he didn't feel anything. In fact, it seemed like all of the damage was reflected at the golem, cracking its arm. Sapphire blinked, wincing as the second golem attacked, thinking it might have been a fluke and raising his bat to defend, but yet again the monster was damaged by its own attack. "Uhh…"

"Did you just reflect its attack at it?"

"Kono Sapphire yume ga aru."

"I will end you."

"There are multiple levels of shields, just like attacks. Shield and PSI Shield have Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega. Alpha and Gamma lessen the damage you take, but Gamma for multiple people, while Beta and Omega completely reflect the damage you take, with Omega being for multiple people."

"Cool! But I usually just use the Alpha level multiple times, like Shield Alpha times three or something."

"It's less exhausting to simply use Gamma, trust me."

The golems roared and swung down again, cracking their arms further. "Damn, this really takes the tension out of a fight."

"They don't seem smart enough to simply aim at the rest of us instead of the boy reflecting their attacks. Let's just wait them out."

Sapphire followed Anthony's suggestion, and eventually, both golems destroyed their arms trying to attack him. "Hope γ." He quickly destroyed their main bodies, showering the floor with rubble. He stumbled and held his head, wincing suddenly. "Oh wow, yeah that new level takes a bunch of energy."

"No, because something so powerful obviously wouldn't be costly."

"Oh shut it." They found another staircase, however, this one led downwards. "Guess you were right, we're heading down now."

"It's weird finding no separating paths in here, the pyramids in Egypt are notorious for being like mazes."

"At least we won't get lost!"

"Wils has a point."

They descended, Willow and Noct incinerating any spiders or snakes that came out of the darkness. When they reached the bottom, they entered a new room, however, there were no exits from it. They looked around in confusion before Anthony ran his hands along the walls. "Perhaps there's a switch here somewhere?"

"Mayhaps a pressure plate?" Willow hummed.

"What the fuck is a mayhaps?"

Anthony just shook his head, "she does have a point, Sapphire, there might be a pressure plate in here like there was outside."

They spent the next few minutes walking around the room, deliberately stepping on every stone in the room. It took a while, but eventually one sunk down and they were able to hear a grinding noise of stone on stone back up the steps.

Retreating to where they heard the noise, they saw that a pedestal in the center of the room had a hole in it now, leading down. "So… jump down?"

"Hold. Shield γ." They were all covered in a Shield before Sapphire jumped into the hole. It went down quite far, and Sapphire winced as he landed. It didn't hurt that much. But he still had his PSI strengthening his body, so when Anthony would land… yeah, that might not be very pretty.

He looked around for anything he could grab for the other Chosen to land on but ended up not having to worry about it as Anthony landed directly on his back. "SHIT!"

"Oh, thanks for the cushion."

"I'll kill you…" Anthony got off him and he got up. It didn't exactly hurt, he'd taken hits from a literal giant ant and massive rat, it was just surprising. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Noct landed on him.

Well, kind of. He did land on him, but _somehow, _through some ninja bullshittery, he transferred his momentum to flip off of him and land on the ground in a roll, before springing to his feet, all while Sapphire simply stumbled. "My apologies Master, I didn't notice you there."

"Wha… how did you even do that?!"

"Training."

Before he could answer he heard a 'wheee!' sound and looked up to see Willow falling directly towards him. "Oh, you're jok—"

Willow slammed down onto him, sending them both to the floor. "Whoops!" Sapphire groaned, opening his eyes to see Willow sitting on his chest and shaking her head. "Sorry!"

He blushed at their positioning, before lifting her off him and shaking his head. "It's fine. But _how _did all of you land so perfectly on me?!"

"Comedy," Anthony snarked. Sapphire just flipped him off before looking around the room. In the very back was a doorway, and next to it a pedestal. On the pedestal, an odd object sat. It was shaped like a teardrop, with a wide-open eye in the middle. A human one, not a hawk's eye, which confused Sapphire since he thought it would have been named the Hawk-Eye for a reason.

He grabbed it, looking it over before putting it in his bag. "Well, that's that. Now what?"

"First, we should get out of here. That doorway seems to lead somewhere, so let's try following the path." Said path led deep underground, seemingly going on for miles. After the first hour of walking, Sapphire began to have doubts. Perhaps they should have tried to figure out a way back up the hole they'd fallen down?

Another hour passed, and Sapphire was annoyed. All along the way, of course, they were fighting hieroglyphics, spiders, and snakes, with the occasional golem whenever a small square room appeared, and the familiar headache from running low on PSI was starting to pop up. Willow was clearly feeling it too, and Anthony was running low on his stamina. Noct seemed fine, but he'd stopped using PSI a while back. He was running low, but his training meant that he wouldn't show pain.

They stopped for thirty minutes in a cleared out room to eat some sandwiches and drink some water they had bought in the town before heading to the pyramid, but even with that break, they were starting to get rundown. Finally, they managed to reach a staircase, this one leading up towards the surface. "C'mon, let's go!"

They quickly ascended it, seeing light at the end of the tunnel. As sunlight was streaming through the opening at the very top. They burst out onto the desert sands, Sapphire groaning with relief. "Oh thank god… it may be scorching out here, but it was stuffy as hell down there"

"But where are we?" Anthony furrowed his brow and looked around, not seeing the pyramids anywhere, nor Scaraba.

"Are we lost?" Willow questioned.

"We very well might be, with no landmarks around…" Anthony bit his lip. "We have food and water, but without knowing which direction civilization is, we could very easily die out here. I know we only walked for a few hours, but if we walk the wrong way we'll just get farther and farther from safety. We need a plan. Sapphire, Noct, can you teleport us back to Scaraba?"

"I'm afraid that… I'm out of PSI."

"Me too. Willow…" Sapphire bit his lip, turning to her. "I think… we might need your Prayer ability."

She felt her eyes widen, before looking away. It made sense. Not even she knew everything that her Prayer ability could do, so getting them out of this situation could be something she could accomplish… but on the other hand, if she hurt any of them…

Sapphire saw her inner dilemma and turned away. "It's alright. We'll find another way out of this."

"No! No… I have to try. After all, I can't exactly have this ability and never use it, right?" She smiled shakily, before closing her eyes and clasping her hands together. The others watched as nothing happened for a moment before blinding light shone out of her.

"Shit!" Sapphire rubbed his eyes, blinking away the tears, before looking back. Willow was pointing in a random direction, smiling. "Willow?"

"That way. We have to go that way."

"Great!" Anthony smiled and turned to Sapphire. "Now we just have to figure out what the Hawk-Eye does. When we get back to civilization, of course."

"Right. Noct-San, what—" he blinked and looked around. "Where's Noct?"

Elsewhere, Noct blinked as his surroundings changed, before turning to see an oddly familiar man. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the man from Dalaam, the one who'd appeared then disappeared when he was undergoing his last trial. "You! Are you an agent of Giygas? Why have you taken me from my teammates?!"

"Calm. I am the Star Master. And it is time I teach you a powerful technique…"

* * *

"Are… we sure… this is the direction we were supposed to go?"

"Yeah… I'm not sure what is this way, but I know it's the way we have to go…"

"Wait, wait, so this isn't even the path to Scaraba?!"

Sapphire groaned, taking off his hat and fanning himself with it. "Ant, let's just trust Wils' premonition. Or prayer. Whatever. If she says something is this way…" Sapphire stumbled, before he fell into the sand, his legs giving out. He'd already been feeling faint with how many PSI attacks he'd thrown out in the pyramid, having become overconfident and ecstatic with his Gamma level of Hope and wanting to use it as much as possible.

Willow scrambled to his side, turning him over. "Sapphire?!" Anthony pushed her aside, kneeling down. His chest was rising and falling, although it was heavy and not in rhythm. His lips were parched, and his eyes were somehow ready in REM. "Anthony, what's wrong with him?!"

"He fainted," he shot back, pushing her away. "He's not in critical condition, I believe he simply fainted from a mixture of sunstroke and heatstroke, along with too much use of his PSI." He grabbed one of the remaining water bottles and lifted it to Sapphire's lips, letting it dribble into his mouth, before massaging his throat to make him swallow.

"Oh." Willow slumped forward, wiping sweat from her face. "That's… good…" She panted a moment, struggling, before falling onto Sapphire. Anthony blinked, before scrambling and turning her over. Sure enough, she was exhibiting the same symptoms, overuse of PSI and the desert sun and heat draining her.

"You've got to be kidding me… I'm the one from Winters! How do you two faint before me?!" He groaned and rubbed his forehead, looking up at the sun. It was still in the center of the sky, barely past its zenith. It would be hours until it went down. He needed to get them to somewhere with water, perhaps a river. He looked over his shoulder, from where they'd come from.

If he went back, somehow carrying them both, they _might _reach Scaraba. But he'd be slower, with both of them unconscious. Or, continue to where Willow told him to go, and risk getting even more lost in the desert. He bit his lip, clenching his eyes shut. Why did _he_ have to make this decision?!

**Ω**

Sapphire glared at Nightmare, he just floated in front of him with his stolen arms crossed, and a raised eyebrow. "**What?"**

"You know what."

"**Dude, it ain't like I can read your mind or anything." **Sapphire raised an eyebrow and Nightmare began laughing, turning upside down. "**A'ight, ya got me. I mean, you were already gonna threaten Noct back in that pyramid, weren't ya? I just helped nudge ya along!"**

"I wasn't exactly planning on slamming him against the wall and threatening his fucking life!" Sapphire roared.

"**Eh, maybe not, but it got your point across~!" **Nightmare laughed after ending his statement with a sing-song tone of voice.

"Ugh… whatever. Why'd you bring me here?"

"**Nani the fuck? I didn't bring you here. You passed out. I assume that your will to stay conscious even though you were running on damn fumes brought you here, 'cause I certainly had nothing to do with it."**

"Tch." Sapphire sat on nothing, looking around at the void that was his mind. "What is this place anyway?"

"**You think I'm gonna tell you anything?"**

"I think you're bored as hell, and any kind of stimulation is good for you. You're too weak to bother me when I get annoyed at small things now, so the only stimulation you get is stuff like earlier, where I get immensely pissed off."

"**Maybe, but that doesn't mean I'm going to help you."**

"How about this… I come in here, every day, for a short while. You get to yell and rant and rave about how you'll kill me and my family and yada, yada, and that'll give you something to do. In exchange, you teach me more about this place. I need to get better with my PSI anyway."

Nightmare snorted, before bursting into laughter. "**Alright kid, now that's an interesting deal! I like it!" **His eyes shimmered with malice, his grin turning feral. "**But how do you know I won't suddenly start trying to take back control?"**

"Eh, I don't. But I feel like I could push you down if I needed to."

"**Fair! Alright, since you've already given me some entertainment so far, I guess I might as well give you some information right off the bat… let's see… this place isn't actually the 'depths' of your mind. That would be my pad, where my physical body resides. This place here is where my 'mind,' notice the air quotes, and your mind intersect."**

"So I'm not technically inside my mind right now, just a subspace that connects us."

"**Bingo."**

"And how exactly do I get into my own mind? That's something I can do, yeah?"

"**Ha! Nice try, but I ain't giving you any information about that. Even if I could beat you right now, I know you'd just wait until you think you'd be ready to take me down. Whether you could then isn't what I'm concerned about, you'll eventually learn on your own, but don't think I'll be teaching you anything that could help beat me sooner. Hell, don't think I'll be teaching you anything at all about fighting."**

"Fine, whatever. Alright, what about my telepathy? Willow never taught me how to do it, and it's not like that could be very useful to you."

"**What, you want me to be your teacher now or something? Didn't I just say I wouldn't teach you?"**

"And I just said that it couldn't be used to fight you. Besides, teaching me this small stuff is better than being bored."

"**Touché. All right, I guess I can explain some things. I just hope you can keep up, heh heh."**

**Ω**

* * *

Anthony huffed, adjusting the rope over his shoulder, before taking another step. He grunted, pulling on the rope as he went. The rope was attached to a small canvas, which Willow and Sapphire had been laid out on. He couldn't carry them, obviously, so instead, he'd gotten some stuff from his bag to help him. Ripping up some clothes and tying them together into a small canvas to carry the two on, before tying a rope around that to pull them.

It was much easier than carrying them, but he still wasn't that strong. They'd made some progress over the sandy dunes, but not enough, in Anthony's opinion. Since both of them were still passed out, he couldn't exactly ask them how much farther they had to go. And he had to take more frequent breaks than when they'd traversed Eagleland's desert, the physical exertion tiring him out more frequently.

He slumped down, grabbing a water bottle and chugging it, before giving some to his unconscious teammates. The desert sun had lowered after a few hours of walking, but it was still blazing. He'd taken off his blazer and tie hours beforehand, dressed only in his pants and button-up shirt now.

An odd whirring sound made him freeze up, and slowly grab his weapon. He looked around but didn't see anything, until he snuck over a sand dune. Ahead, some kind of odd cephalopod shaped machine stood in the sand. It had several tentacles coming out of a spherical body, with a glass visor visible on the front. It began turning towards him, and he ducked down.

It looked dangerous. Could he take it on his own if it discovered him? Maybe. It looked mechanical, so perhaps it was a robot. If he could figure out how to shut it down, he could end the battle without destroying it. He peeked over the dune again and groaned when he saw another. "Just great…"

He perked up, however, when he saw something on the horizon. It was hazy, due to the wavy in the air from the heat, but he was sure that some kind of tower was rising in the distance. And nearby it was a blue strip, snaking through the desert. A river! It would make sense since whoever built that tower would want a source of water nearby. Now they just had to make it over there.

A beam of energy suddenly flew over his head, causing him to yelp and duck back. "Einstein's mustache!"

Willow murmured in her unconscious state, "lame expression…"

"Oh go back to being out cold!" He shot back up and raised his gun, blasting one of the robots. It shuddered as it raised a tentacle and blocked the laser, the tip of the appendage seared off. It fired another beam at him, and he dove to the side, rolling through the sand. He scrambled for his bag, grasping a bottle rocket and launching it. It flew through the air and slammed into the closest robot, exploding and shredding the creature's armor.

He sighted in and fired, his beam cutting through the robot now that its armor was gone. He must have got something important because it shuddered, before a massive explosion went off, throwing the other robot away and crashing through the sand, fizzling. Anthony blinked, before letting out a whoop. He did it! All on his own! If that wasn't an achievement, he didn't know what was!

More whirring sounds reached his ears, and he turned to see more of the robots approaching. "Oh damn it."

**Ω**

A few feet away, Sapphire startled as a dull thud hit his ears. "The hell was that?"

"**Your little buddy is having a gay old time with some robs, it looks like."**

"What?! I need to get out there!"

"**Ha! Fat chance of that happening! Your mind is willing, but your body isn't. You don't have any PSI left."**

"But you do."

"**Wow, that was fast." **

"Listen, I don't like you, and you hate me. You obviously want us all to die, so you have no reason to help."

"**Are you trying to convince me or not?"**

"But, if you do this for me, I'll allow you out once a day."

Nightmare paused before he could whip up another sarcastic response, and narrowed his eyes. "**What?"**

"Once a day, for a short while, you can do whatever you want, bar hurting people or any crimes. Read a book, go for a walk, I don't give a shit! Just, please! Help me!"

Nightmare just blinked in shock, barking out an uncomfortable and unsure laugh. "**Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this…" **there was a look in the boy's eyes, he was telling the truth. If he saved his friend he'd let him do whatever he wanted for short periods, with a few rules. Damn… the kid had guts! "**Alright… I'm in! I could use a good stretch anyway…"**

"Thank you." Sapphire instinctively knew how to give up control, and quickly did so. He relaxed and felt Nightmare's presence wash past him, bubbling to the surface. He had enough power to prevent Nightmare from intentionally hurting his friends, and could force him back down if needed, but right now there was no need. It was time to let Nightmare out to play.

**Ω**

Sapphire's body opened its eyes before it slowly sat up. It clenched and unclenched its hands, looking around. An explosion drew its gaze, and it saw Anthony ducking down as a laser beam shot overhead.

_Help him_

Sapphire was down and out. Of course, if he tried anything funny Sapphire world wrestle his mind down until his body flopped down like a puppet, no one controlling it.

_Protect them_

He wasn't even fully conscious. Sapphire was simply a mass of emotions, attempting to guide him.

If that wasn't ironic, Nightmare didn't know what was.

He pushed himself up, grasping his

_My_

bat. "**Time to get to work."** Anthony didn't notice him until he was right behind him. Luckily for the blond, he didn't have any intention of harming him. For now.

_Or ever_

"Wha— Sapphire?!" He turned and grinned ecstatically until he froze. What gave him away? The set of his eyes? Perhaps his malicious grin. Maybe because he was leaking black blood from his eyes… oh, who was he kidding? It was obviously because he had an aura around him that made him seem so much more handsome!

"**Howdy Ant! How ya doin'?"**

"You… you don't call me that!" Anthony pointed his gun at him, and he just rolled his eyes. "What… was Sapphire weakened enough that you could take control? Let him out, or—"

"**Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, I've got some robots to crush, so go chill out or something." **He grinned and crested the dune, swinging his bat lazily. This was the first time he was in full control and he was loving it! Back in the Fourside department store, Sapphire was in partial control, but here he got to experience it all! The sun's heat, the desert wind… to anyone else it would have been hellish with how hot it was, but for a being that had only been alive for maybe a week now? This was his first time feeling anything besides negative emotions, and he was going to milk it for all it was worth!

One of the robots fired a beam at him, and he leaned to the side, letting it graze his arm. Fuck! It… what was the word for the sensation?

_Burned_

Yeah! He felt it searing through his flesh, his skin crackling and stinging. Tears came to his eyes in response, the nerve-endings in his temporary body telling him something was wrong, before dying and burning up.

He loved it! The pain was astonishing! He'd never felt anything like it! It hurt so bad!

_Heal_

Oh, that's right. If he lost his arm he couldn't fight. "**Lifeup β." **This! It felt like the opposite of pain… and it tickled! He watched as the burnt flesh on his arm slowly turned back into Sapphire's natural skin tone before strands of flesh began weaving back together over the hole in his arm. The bone in his arm began growing, the clean hole in it swiftly filled by new marrow, before becoming covered and fixed. On top of the bone, red and pulsing flesh knit together, before skin covered that.

It was amazing! So many sensations! So many—

_Danger_

Oh, and now Sapph was helping him out! How thoughtful. Wait, where was the danger—

Zap!

He stumbled back and held a hand to his neck, feeling a hole and… ah, what was the word? Warmth! That was it! He may have had Sapphire's memories and vocabulary, but it was difficult putting words to first time experiences. What was he doing? Oh yeah! Blood!

It was gushing out of the hole in his neck, and… oh, there was more blood on his back! The beam must have cut straight through! Awesome! Oh wait, not awesome, he might die… "**Lifeup β." **And once again, his body was stitching itself up. He coughed up some blood that had been caught in his throat— and what a new, interesting feeling that was— before grinning at the robots.

"**Now for the even more fun part!" **He ran forward and whacked at one of the machines, denting its metal chassis inward and causing the squid thing to stumble back. He wasn't sure exactly what they were, so squid thing fit. It attempted to fire another beam at him, as did the other robots behind him, but he just laughed and jumped to the side, avoiding most of the lasers, while some of them scorched his legs and arms.

He laughed giddily as pain shot through his borrowed body, the sensations amazing to his, technically, one-week-old mind. The robot he had bashed attempted to shoot him again, but he brought his bat down and shattered its shell, opening it up and revealing its sensitive electronics. He reached in and grasped several wires, pushing PSI into his fist. "**Fire Ω!" **The robot exploded, sending shrapnel flying away and shredding through both the sand and his body.

More blasts impacted into his back, scorching his clothes and flesh, and he turned with a malicious grin. "**Despair Ω!" **Black, red, and gold shot out and erupted, instantly vaporizing the machine's shooting at him from the inside, while also turning the sand under them to glass near instantly from the high temperatures. Sparks of plasma shot out here and there, and he sighed as he lowered his now bleeding and burnt hands. Powerful though he may have been with PSI, Sapphire's body wasn't exactly ready for that level of power. Too bad. "**Lifeup β."**

Once again his wounds were closed, and he basked in the desert sun for a moment, before the blond on was suddenly behind him. He turned and saw the boy pointing his little laser gun at him, causing him to grin and lift his hands, waving them slightly. "**Don't shoot, officer!"**

"Nightmare, how the bloody hell are you out?!"

"**What, didn't expect me to stay in the closet my whole life?" **Anthony's glare didn't lessen. "**That was a joke. Laugh."**

_A bad one_

"_**I'll smack you."**_ He looked at the Winters boy and rolled his oozing eyes. "**Sapphy is a bit preoccupied with being completely knocked out due to PSI stress and sunstroke. Considering I didn't feel like dying when you eventually lost against those robots, I decided to step in. So, where are we going? That tower?" **Better not reveal his little deal with Sapphire.

Anthony continued to glare, "give me proof that Sapphire is still alive."

"**The hell kinda proof you want? He's out cold right now, I can't exactly drudge him up without our body falling face-first into the sand, dipshit."**

"Put him into partial control or something, I don't know how PSI works. Give me something."

"**Oh for the love of… fine!" **He reached in and grabbed part of Sapphire's conscious, drawing him up to the surface. His right eye stopped bleeding black ooze and probably turned back to its normal color. He couldn't tell. "**Th**a**t **go**o**d e**nou**gh for y**ou?**"

"You… could be faking it… but I have no choice but to believe you. Try anything, however, and I'll knock you out."

"**Y**ea**h? Y**ou an**d wh**a**t a**r**my?" **He shifted back to full control, shaking his head. "**Those robots couldn't do jack shit. Well, they could, I just could heal from everything they did." **

"Tch…"

He walked over and grabbed Willow, throwing her onto his shoulder.

_Careful_

_Don't hurt _

"**Yeah, yeah…" **He watched as Anthony packed his bag, looking at him warily out of the corners of his blue eyes. He began trekking towards the tower, with Anthony following, hands twitching as he attempted to glare a hole through his head.

"_Damnit… why did Noct-San have to disappear now?! The one-time Nightmare is in full control for more than thirty seconds, and our expert on PSI is gone. He literally just showed up barely hours ago!"_

Nightmare snickered as he read the boy's thoughts. That was pretty unlucky, wasn't it? Although, he himself was also wondering where the martial artist had gone. Oh well, it didn't matter to him. One less Chosen to kill after all. Well, after he got rid of Sapphire.

_Try it_

He simply chuckled maliciously in response.

* * *

The tower was much larger than Anthony had expected.

Oh, it had looked large when he'd seen it on the horizon, but it was at _least _several stories in height, and the circumference was about that of a standard building. Part of it was underwater, in the river. He only knew this because the first thing he'd done upon reaching the tower and river was jump in and fill his water bottles, before gently taking Willow and laying her in the water next to him. He quickly looked away when the water began soaking her dress. Why did all of the wardrobe malfunctions have to happen when _he_ was looking?!

Sapphire— _Nightmare, _he reminded himself, was laughing as he swam back and forth in the river. It was somewhat odd, seeing the personification of negativity happy as he swam around, but it was ruined by the black liquid that leaked from several of his orifices and the golden eyes.

He lay back and let the water cool him off, but he made sure to keep an ear open and listen to Nightmare. Any info on him was important.

"**It's so cold! Amazing! I feel like I'll freeze to death!" **The mutters from Nightmare and the disturbing, warbling voice contrasted greatly. His voice sounded much more natural if it could even be considered natural when he was talking about killing. Even when he was being as cartoonish as a supervillain, it sounded more natural. Hearing that same tone used when he was talking as if he were a child taking his first swim? It was… well, just disturbing.

As Nightmare finished a lap and swam back over to their side of the river, he suddenly floundered for a moment, before shaking his head. "**I suppose it was about time…" **Anthony blinked and watched as Nightmare swam to the side of the river and closed his yellow eyes, before reopening them to reveal deep brown ones. Sapphire groaned and clutched his head, sinking down into the water. "Oh lord, that's a bad headache…"

"Sapphire? Are you alright?"

"Just peachy…" he sighed and dunked his head in the water, washing off the black liquid that looked like runny mascara now that it had stopped leaking. Sapphire grimaced and pressed the heels of his hands against his closed eyelids, and Anthony gagged as he saw extra liquid leak out. "Yeah, how do you think _I _feel with this all leaking from my face. God this is nasty…"

"So… what happened with…?"

"You were in trouble, I couldn't do anything, so I got Nightmare to do something."

"That was irresponsible and dangerous."

"And you were in serious trouble."

"I—" He was interrupted when Willow groaned. She slowly sat up, rubbing her head.

"What happened?"

"You passed out. I had to drag you both across a damn desert by myself." He neglected to mention Nightmare popping up. He was having a hard enough time seeing the necessity of it, and it was necessary, he would have died soon enough with the firepower those robots were packing and his lack of rockets, but Willow would get way too worried.

"Oh… thanks, Anty!"

"Yeah, yeah…" He sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking up. "There's still a few hours until nightfall. We have water and can survive for a while without food. you two may have finally woken up, but that just means that your PSI exhaustion has worn out enough that you can function, I'm willing to bet that Sapphire still can't teleport us."

"Uh…" sparks flew from him. "Nope."

"Right. So, for now, I suggest we find a way into this tower and rest out of the sun until you can teleport us out of here."

"How do we get in?" Willow questioned.

Sapphire examined the tower and saw a seam that indicated a doorway. "I think I've got something. Help me get it open." All three of them pulled, and slowly but surely, the doors opened. Sapphire peered inside, holding up a hand with a flickering blue and gold flame ignited on the end of it, to light up the inside. Anthony did a double-take, recalling that _Sapphire had no idea how to use Fire. _Or at least, he didn't earlier that very day. The boy winced and held his head, the flames dying for a moment before re-igniting.

Willow didn't seem to notice, igniting her own hands in red and orange flames. "It looks creepy… we should explore it!"

"While a rather stupid decision considering how low both of you are on PSI," Anthony eyed their dying flames, "I am curious to what the tower was constructed for."

"Well, we're waiting for our PSI to regenerate, right? Might as well explore for a bit."

"Yes, I suppose… now stop wasting energy, I have a light source, remember?" He lit up his clip-on-device, and they began exploring the massive tower.

()()

**I wanted to upload yesterday, but internet problems messed with that plan. I'm planning some stuff for Nightmare and Sapphire's interactions, and I'm excited to write them. **

**Anyway, review with what you liked or just a 'nice.' see y'all next time.**


	24. Chapter 24: Hot 2 Humid

Chapter Twenty-Four: Hot 2 Humid

The tower turned out to not just be a tower. It was a dungeon. Well, not one of those medieval Winters dungeons that kings would throw traitors or whatever into, but something like a video game dungeon. Multiple floors, prizes at dead-ends to entice players to keep moving, hell, there was even a place to sleep, with a doctor and nurse nearby to heal them.

Of course, no dungeon was complete without enemies, and there were many of those. Sapphire dove to the side to dodge a blob of Worthless Protoplasms, instinctively summoning up the energy to call forth a Flash, before wincing as his head throbbed to remind him 'hey idiot, you wasted it all!'

Or maybe it was just Nightmare.

The blob jumped at him again, and he swung his bat in retaliation. Most of the blob flew away, but about a third remained, flowing onto his arm and squeezing down. He supposed that if the whole mass had squeezed down on his arm at once it might have hurt, but with such small numbers, all he felt was a tightening sensation.

He shook his arm to get them off, before rubbing against the wall when they wouldn't let go. They were weak individually, and even in small numbers, but their ability to stick and moldable nature meant that physical attacks didn't do nearly enough damage to keep them down. PSI energy would have worked wonders, but without it, it seemed that Anthony's laser rifle was the only thing damaging the creatures.

Of course, with how he was the only one doing any damage at all, most of them were trying to kill him, instead of the usual, which was lunging straight for Sapphire's throat. It would have been a welcome respite if Anthony wasn't as fragile as a glass bottle compared to them, and Willow had to spend more of her time bashing protoplasms away from the boy genius, rather than knock them off her own body.

The blond boy jumped back and fired another beam, disintegrating several of the creatures, before Willow had to smack away another blob of them. "Ant! Just blow them up already!"

"I'm out of rockets! I used the last ones I had on the robot-squids outside!"

"Wa-blammo!" Willow smacked aside get another blob, but even though she was attempting to keep the mood light, she was showing signs of becoming tired. No PSI, no rockets, nothing they could do.

Wait… he didn't have PSI… but…

"Alright, I'm gonna try something! Get ready!"

"What?! What are you—"

"JUST GET BACK!" He plunged into his mindscape and came face to face with Nightmare. Nightmare blinked, surprised.

"**Uh…"**

"Get moving, fucker!" He grabbed the dark version of himself and hauled him out with him, grimacing, before screaming as he felt a tearing in his mind. His real body stumbled, and he fell to his knees as he held his head.

"_**What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!"**_

"S̶̡̟̥̒͜u̵̢̯̜̗̦͖̹̠͖̙͑͜ŗ̵̬̘͈̞̝̪͈͚͉͙̪̭̱̜̔̾̅̊͜v̶̠̲̝͎̻͓̟̞̮̻̈͌̓̿́̈́̋̈̈́̾͗̀i̶͚̩̭͗͐̽̔̾̿̚͠ṽ̸̡͔̬͎͐͐̒̈́͛̕͜͝į̶̹͖͚̺͍̱̘̱̭̭̹͓͚̥͆͌̍͂ͅń̶̡͉̖͚̟̺̓̃͛̈́ͅģ̸̞͙̥̜̤̬͕̭͕͓̈͐!̸̡͙͇͖̹͗̾̉͊̇̇́̆̊̊̀̚͝͝͠"He shrieked again as speaking made his throat feel like it was on fire, before he began vomiting up black, textureless, primordial ooze. He looked up and summoned up his PSI energy. Or really, Nightmare's energy. Nightmare was him, but he was also a separate entity, technically. He had his own mind and his own font of energy. If he dredged it up, he could keep fighting.

"_**You idiot! We aren't meant to both be in control right now! Before, you were almost completely out of it, which was how I got away with it! You'll destroy both of our minds! But—"**_

"D̷̨̟̖̽͛̈́ǫ̵̼̭̆͊̋ ̴̨̘̅̐̈ͅy̷̨̝̍̐o̸͎̕ų̶̭̥̌̂̌ ̶͕̔̌w̷̼̑̈́̀å̵͈͈͊̇n̸͙̲̓̕͝t̸͇͚͛ ̷̰̙̭͝t̸̨̓́o̴̻̤̐̎ ̵͇̱͂̃d̸̖̂i̴̝͆̈́̔e̴̮̲̕ ̸̱͙̄̉̽t̷̘̣̄o̶̳̽ ̸̛̖̬̘͌̋a̵̛̻͈͒ ̵̲̳̩̀b̸̙̏l̵̢̖̰͗̈́͒o̶̯͉̎̒b̴̛̘̞͔͆̉ ̴̬̫͆o̶̙̟͛̅̀f̸̲̏̓ ̶͖̮͍̏p̶̲̪͆ṙ̶̖̝̼͑̍o̴̧̾t̷͉͖̋̚o̵̺̣̘͌͊̕ṗ̴̣l̶̦̭̆͂a̸͉̺̒͜s̴̫̠̈̆m̶̗̥͎̄s̶̟͐͆ ̸͉̬͑ͅs̴̘͎͎̈́͠ǫ̸̻̇̈́͝ ̸̩̆w̴̡̜̥̔̑͌é̴̛͙̜͂ẵ̸̰̰k̴̲̭̲̿̾̇ ̸̛̖̤̎͐ē̷̛̛̲ͅv̸̡͕̬̈̂̈́e̶̦͆͋ͅn̸͓̺̈́̒ ̶̨̡͓͑̚Ä̴̮́n̶̡̮̉̉͝t̷̪̤̱̂͗h̴̤̑̽̓͜ơ̷̧͚̯͆n̴̫̳͓̔̅̾ẙ̸̝̠̥͂ ̴̫̍͘c̷̤̳͇̿͑ȏ̸̮̰͘u̸̧͔̜̇́̚l̷̢͘d̵͈͚̑̍̊ ̶̛̲̲̬̄̊f̶͎͎͛͑ͅî̵̩̹ͅğ̸̬̯̹h̶̡̳͚͆͋t̵̜̞̂̈́ͅ ̸̤̥͑̔ţ̸͍͌h̶̘͔̓̾ȩ̵͑͒m̷͈̍̈ ̸̭̟͎̎o̷̞͂́̾f̴̗̠̞͘f̶̦͈̊͜͝?!" He vomited up more of Nightmare's essence, as the voice in his head went silent for a moment, before snarling.

"_**God fucking damn it, FINE! But if we die, that's on you, dipshit!" **_Energy not his own flowed through his body. Unlike when Willow had sent her energy into him to help him, and he felt her soft, kind emotions, her love and worry, he could only feel darkness, pain, rage, grief, and what was most sickening was that they were all his own. Warped, yes, but his.

He felt Despair, and grinned, running his tongue along teeth that felt _just _too sharp, peering forward with eyes a _touch _too bright. "Ḋ̸̗́̍e̷̳̣̭̝͎̦͂̈̆͐͊̆̐͆́͘s̸̛̜͎̿̉̓̀̉̄͊̇̀̈́̒͝͝p̴̭̻̪̿͗͊̈́̏͘̚͘͝͝ȃ̸̢̛̫̓͊͐̔̈́̕ỉ̶̞̰͔̐̈́́r̷̛̲͍̯̪͕̐̍̀̍͂̀͒͊̋͐̋̃̇ ̷̢̲̰̗̔̆̄̊̎͋͋̇͊̅͘͝ͅf̵̡͙̩̲̖̭̭̗̞̟͖̺̺̓̐̊͗͑̇̇́̐̕o̴̧̺͓̳̾̊͆̊̆̽́̉̌̈͠r̴̡̡͚̼̻̬͙͓̦͖̖̞̾̑͛͗͐͑̓̀̅̀͜ ̵̨̧͚̭̑́͊͊̀y̷̧̠͇̦̹̼͎̘̖̦͉͈̐̽̌̃͗̓̃̀͆̄̈́o̵̩̙̝̠̊̄̈́̎u̵̯̦̻̟̦̞̰̩̖̯͖̾͑̒̈́̎̾̾̒̆̋͝ŗ̷̱͕͇̙̹͇̥͉͖̠̓̆̔ ̴̢̤̩̭̞̘̹̺̟̖̮͔͊̍͜f̴͓̻͈̜͌͝ạ̷̢̛̝̤͙̝̗̞̭̱̦̾̕͘͘ͅt̸̨̫̽̆̏̋̇̆̊́̽̀́͝͝ḙ̷̢̗̭̤̞̰͂͋̂̇́͋̆̿͜!̸̜̥̙͓͓̓̽̂̑̇͌͋̒͐̍̋̚ γ̵̛̠͉͔̞͛̔͆̐̏̓͆͜͠!̷̞̺̪̲̙̑̈́̆͋́̐́͛̒͊́̀͘͠" the Gamma version of Nightmare's signature attack, or his Gift, Sapphire reminded himself, blasted out. It was as devastating as his Hopes, although it seemed slightly different now that he was viewing it from the perspective of the user.

Hope Alpha to Gamma exploded with energy, detonating when any of the beams of light collided with something, the ground, an enemy, and he could focus it into one spot specifically to destroy something from the inside like he'd done with the Guardian Digger in Dusty Dunes, and the Kraken. He only barely remembered Omega from Belch's vase, but the aftermath looked like someone had set off a napalm bomb, or some kind of plasma bomb from a sci-fi, with how the metal that _hadn't _been vaporized was warped and melted.

Despair, at least Gamma level, didn't seem to explode. Anthony had told him about what happened with the Omega level in the department store in Fourside, and he'd even seen some of the damage when they were looking for Magnet Hill, an entire side of the building completely vaporized and everything around it cratered. But, it had also been a focused blast, and not a wide wave as he'd just fired.

Despair didn't interact with the stone floor or walls, but when it hit the Protoplasms they began glowing, before erupting from the inside with energy. He had to shield his face as blue liquid splashed against him before he stumbled as a wave of pain wracked his head. "Ö̴̧̟̝͙͔̘̫h̴̦̫̪̥͎̠̲͖̩̝̖͙͓̐̈́͐̾͛͋̄̉͗͆̆̐̕͜͠͝ͅ ̷̢̦̫̱̠̦̝̯̾̑͜f̷̨̪̤͇͈͍̳̭̥̰̃̿̇̓̂u̷̧̎͑̋͝c̶̻̤̠̰̭̣̼̄̌̀̍̋̍͑͋̌k̶̢̗̹͔͍̯̝͕̩̊͠."

More Protoplasms assaulted him, wrapping around his stomach and squeezing, and he quickly gripped them with both hands and pulsed more Despair into them. They exploded, and he growled as liquid began dripping out from his hands. He winced and fell to his knees as waves of pain shot through his head. Were his limbs elongating and twisting? could have just bee his imagination, but with the crap that was happening... "_**Are you done destroying our body yet?!"**_

"P̷̨̧͆i̶̢̯̥̫̝̟͇͂̉̾̓̐̄̅̚ͅͅs̵̝͚̯͛͂̓̐̑̋́͋͝s̸̡̠͕͚̼͖̻͊͊̌͑͒̀̓͆͋̍̑͊̌ͅ ̶̨̮͙̟͈̯̣̦̼͖̟͚͂͒̋̈́̈́͗̃̽͆͐̀̀͜õ̵̡̡̩̠̦̟͇̭͔̝̹̰̳̋̓̆͋̅͌̑͗̿̾͝͝ḟ̸̘̬̣̾͐̄̀̐̾̀́̑͘͝͠f̷̛̱̞̬̾̄̓…̴̰̘̬͋̅͊͐̿̎͊̐͂͊̇́̈͘" he slowly got up and summoned flames to his arms, looking towards his teammates, fighting off the last waves of Protoplasms. His legs shook as he summoned more of Nightmare's power, causing the flames to slowly switch from blue to black, and the pain shooting through his head to double.

More ooze was climbing up his throat, and he was definitely sure that his teeth were blades now with how they were cutting at his lips and tongue. He was pretty sure that his face was more bestial than human now, and his voice made that all the more obvious with how distorted it sounded, even to him. Hell, it didn't even sound like English at this point.

Either way, he had to keep going."F̷̧̨̧͉̖̲͇̟̠̣̹̰̠͙̦͈̜̗̭̰̠͖͙̖͔̯̯͎̩̹̺͖͍͙̤̳͓̼̘̻͉͓̳̙͎̋̓̎̽̓̄͋̓͒̄̄̌̎̿͐̂̄̓̕̕͜͜i̴̢̢̡̡̨̨̨̼͖̥̟̟͙͉̪͉̳̬̥̝̗̫͎͕̬̘̭̖̭̫͍̹̙̓̏̏̎̑̓̅̑̆̔͒̄̾̾̐̿̂̍̌͌̂̀́̇͆̈́͠͠͝͠ͅṟ̴̢̨̧̨̛̳͓͎̩̜̣̮̘̳͍̱̺͙̱̭̪̳͇̩͔͉̬͎̟̫̠̟͖̼̹̲̝̗̹͎̫̠͍͕̠͚̯̹͍̺̗͚̻̹̘͓̰̙̘̣̞̱̬̞̗̦͖̺̻̖̤̫̿̍̒͐̾̓̊͂͆̀̑̐̊̌̾̓̒̓͌͒̈̄̄̾̇̊̈̑̒̃̃̃͂̃̃̓͌̆̎̔̀̋̑̄́̓͆̈́̾̅͒̈̏͊̔̓̇̆͒͋̕͘̕͘̚͝͝͝ͅͅȩ̷̡̢̨̛̛̖͉͓̮̮͔͈͖͉̦̦̖̼͇̙̣͓̱͙͈̜̥̲̲̘̪͚͖̲̯̣͙̰̱̦̻͉̖̬̺̼͖̥͔̘̦̜̲͕̗͚̜̺̲͔̉̏̔̉̃͛̒́͌͌̊͋͐̄̀̓͂̈́̃̇̀͂̾̆̈̽̒̀͐̃̆̈́̓͊͆͌̀̏̑͋̉͜͜͝͠ͅͅͅͅ ̶̨̡̛̛̛̣̥̩̟̻̟̲̤̻͍̥̞̤͙̹̮̤͓̫̯̪̪̬͚̯̯̬̥̦͖̩̬̟̗̝̝̹͙̟͔̞̺͓̮̪̜͙̱̞̑̇͌̔́̒̄̊̀̉̅̐͌́̆͂̌̆̈́̍̎͒̈̍̆͌̂̑̈̌͒͋̈́͒͑̌̀̓̅̌̄̎̆͛̋̐̉̔̈́̑̿̔̀͐͆̐͗̄͒̑̓̒̿̊̚͘͘͜͜͜͝͝͝β̸̧̢̨̛̱̖̞̺̣̬͇̻̺̦̮͓̺͙̪͍̜̱̩̬̖͕̜̆̊̑̋͌̐͛̈́̅͊͐̈́̆̇͂̌̇̈́̋̈́́̋͒̈́̅̐͂̈̓̽̓̂̉̏̓͐́͘̕̕͜͠͝!" Flames black as night washed out and incinerated the creatures, while Willow and Anthony jumped back to avoid the attack. But with that, his body couldn't handle the pressure any more, and he fell to the ground while screeching like a wounded animal.

"Sapphire!" Anthony slid over and turned him onto his back, grabbing his head and opening one of his eyes that he'd slammed closed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, what the hell did you do?!"

He couldn't answer, incomprehensible noise left his mouth, like that of television static. "Ḩ̷̡̢̧̧̧̢̨̢̛̛̜͙̖̣̭͕̫̫͍͎͉͖̯̰̦̖̗̹̞̝̱͓͙͕̯̙̭̰̞͈̩̯̲̙͔͚͈̤̝̥͎͔̦̭̳͎̙̠̟̣͇̥̇͗̈͊̆̈́̏̊͗͌̈́͋͊̓̀̔̾̔̑̈́̾́͆̍̎́͑͐͛́̽̍̊̏̎̾̿̅̂͑́͛̆̂̍̈͛̒̾̄̌͗̕̚̚͘͜͜͝͝͝**3̶̡̨̮̬̞͔̭̤̼̜͈̟̲͉̟͇̟͙̹̱̙̼̜̗̤̣͔̞̺̞̉̈̾͐̔͒̋̈́̂̀͛̈́͂̒̀̓̍̾́͒̌̐̿̿͊͊̓͛̓̍̃̄͗̎͐͘͜͜͜͜͠͝ͅͅ**/̸̢̧̨̛̝̞͖̜̲̱̹͇̯̜̼̩̞̰̺͍̭̹̞̘̻͕͈̮̺̠̺̤͉̘̩̹̯̻̞͈̠̼͇̦͓̮͈̟͙̫̘̼͌̈́͂̽̇̈́̀̓̌͗͗͒̇̒̈̎̀̏̃͛̂̆̽̅̑̒́̏̓̾̓̊̐͒̊̊̃̏̓̍̆̅̄̇̈͊͑͂͛͐͒̎͒̒̌̈́̒̾̊̈̚͘͘͜͜͠͠͝**P̷̧̡̢̡̨̢̧͖͔̗͚̼͎̟̳̰̘͕̲̙̩̲̰̲̠̝͓͙͖̠̟̼̺̞̖͓̞̱̦̘̦̼̬͈̻̝͍͉̟͇͎͙͉̱̦̭͍͎͍̹͈̜͎̩̘̹̤̻̄̍̆̊͊͂̈̐̀̆̏̂̂̽͘͜͜͝ͅͅͅ**… "

"Oh god… I don't know what the hell to do!" Anthony scrambled, reaching for nothing, unsure what would help, or even what was causing it. Sapphire had impossible symptoms, secretion of some tar-like substance, teeth as sharp as razor blades which were cutting through his tongue and mouth whenever he screamed, convulsions as if he were in the midst of a seizure, and his pupils were dilated so much that he was pretty sure they weren't even there, lost in seas of alternating gold, blue, silver, and red.

"I-It's something to do with PSI right?! O-Or Nightmare?!" Willow asked, kneeling on Sapphire's opposite side, also not knowing what to do. "Isn't there some way to help him?!"

Anthony was scrambling towards his bag before she'd even finished. That's right! He had something to help! The Counter-PSI Unit whirred to life, bathing Sapphire in its light. His convulsing body slowed until he lay flat. Anthony breathed out, before remembering the liquid he had been coughing up and quickly turned him on his side to slam at his back, sending the remainder of the goop spilling out of him, along with a coughing fit.

Sapphire suddenly gasped and his eyes fluttered open, the color back to his trademark dark-brown thankfully, and he rolled onto his hands and knees to clean the rest of his stomach with an upchucking session that took several seconds longer than was probably healthy, and at the end it was more stomach acid than liquid PSI coming up. But, screw it. PSI broke most rules of nature anyway.

There was a moment of silence only occupied by Sapphire's heavy breathing before he slumped down into the liquid mixture he'd created and groaned. "Fuuuuuuck…"

"Sapphire, are you alright?!"

Sapphire groaned and moved his head to the side, moving his hand up and dipping it into the liquid. Anthony watched in confusion as he began spelling out the alphabet, before the boy weakly grinned up at them as he finished, slapping his hand down on the letter 'f.' "Press F to pay respects…"

Anthony looked down at him in disgust as Sapphire weakly chuckled, before coughing as Willow suddenly grabbed him and hugged him close. "Damnit, Sapphire! I was so worried! Don't do that again!"

"Can't… breath… once again…" he gasped as Willow let him go, coughing.

She looked down at him with a glare, puffing her cheeks out and placing her hands on her hips, attempting to look intimidating, though the embarrassed blush from holding him so close didn't help her. "Now, what did you do?!"

"Held a party in my mouth. Ugh… do _not _try any of that…"

"Ignoring that mental image, I think she's asking more about what in god's name did you do to cause _that? _And last I checked, you knew neither Despair nor Fire."

"Uh, so I may or may not have tried to merge with Nightmare's consciousness to use his PSI. While I wasn't unconscious." He grinned nervously as Willow and Anthony looked down at him blankly before Willow suddenly grabbed him by his neck and began shaking him.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Sapphire winced and grinned sheepishly, flinching back. "Hey, I had to do something. We were kind of being beaten up and might have died!"

"So you attempted to merge with Nightmare?" He rubbed his eyebrows in frustration, looking down at his friend. "What if Nightmare tried something? I could understand earlier when you were both unconscious and I was the only one fighting, but now?"

"You did this before?!"

Sapphire winced at Willow's yell. "Hey, he was just as enthused about this as you two are. He was completely against it at first. Kept saying that it would kill us both." He seemed to have realized his mistake when Willow began shaking him again. "H-Hey, wait, stop! Listen, I wasn't going to let either do you die! Even if I had to risk myself!"

"You know, that's very noble and all, but what would you do if either of us did something that could kill us if it had a small chance of saving you?"

"I'd stop you?"

"And is that not hypocritical of you?"

Sapphire opened his mouth and he raised an eyebrow in response, causing Sapphire to grumble and turn away. Unlucky for him, that turned him towards Willow who suddenly looked very sad. Oh, he supposed hearing that someone she loved was literally doing something that was killing him might be a touch frightening. Probably.

"Sapphy… please don't do that again… I don't want you to kill yourself just for the chance to save me…"

"Whoa, hey, I didn't say he shouldn't," Anthony cut in, "just don't be hypocritical if we try and do the same thing. I'd very much not like to die."

Willow silenced him with an_ actually_ frightening glare, before turning back to Sapphire. "I… don't think I could be able to handle it if someone I lo— liked a lot died… please…"

Sapphire looked at her with wide eyes, and suddenly Anthony felt like a very unnecessary third wheel. "Uh… well, I'll try not to do that again, but… it's like Ant said, it may be hypocritical or whatever of me, but I'll do whatever I can to protect you, the both of you. Sorry…" Willow just sighed and looked away, while Sapphire coughed awkwardly. "Anyway, I think I found out something about Nightmare."

"Something useful?"

"Yeah. So, as I said, he was completely against the idea of us merging or whatever, saying it would kill us. But he was _panicking. _Struggling. Isn't that weird? I mean, if it's something that would kill me, or lead to your deaths, then even if he died, he'd be stoked, right?"

"Right?"

"So, this is totally just a theory, but I think Nightmare is enough of his own being, or maybe has enough of my emotions, to prioritize his survival over his loyalty to Giygas."

Anthony hummed and thought out loud. "I suppose that _is_ useful information… if you're in danger of being killed we can use Nightmare's survival instinct to help us."

"I feel like we're forgetting the fact that we were talking about Sapphire dying," Willow cut in.

"Wils, there's not much to talk about." Sapphire got up and wiped his face with his sleeve, turning towards her. "We were in trouble, and I did what I had to, to save us. That's it."

She glared up at him, before getting up herself. "…fine." She turned away, and Sapphire turned towards him, causing him to shrug. He wasn't exactly sure what to say in response to all of this. What Sapphire did, in hindsight, was necessary. Willow was letting emotion cloud her view of it, but hopefully, she'd see eventually it had been needed.

* * *

The remainder of the climb through the tower was grueling. Willow and Anthony strictly forbade him from doing anything with Nightmare, so they had to pick their fights carefully to prevent themselves from becoming overwhelmed.

They also made sure to take extra breaks to rest, and slowly Willow and Sapphire's PSI exhaustion headaches lessened slightly, letting them use their weaker PSI attacks, although they still used them sparingly.

But, they had finally made it. 'Good job,' said the sign that Sapphire had stopped to read after climbing a rope. 'You finally made it.' Ahead of them, What looked to be a face was poking out of a wall. Sapphire blinked as he walked closer and realized that it was, in fact, a face. "Welcome!" It exclaimed.

"Uh…" he tilted his head, the face oddly familiar, before recognizing him as the dungeon man, Brick Road, that Anthony had met in Winters. "You're Brick Road, right?"

"Correct!" Brick Road looked at Anthony and grinned. "Long time no see. I see that you've told your friends about me, the amazing Brick Road!"

"Uh, yeah. So, what is this place? And… why exactly are you in a wall?"

"Doctor Andonuts finally made me Dungeon Man! This massive body is a living dungeon that's all my own!"

"Wait, if it's a body, does that mean it can move?"

"Yes! I just set down next to the river for water."

"Oh. Well, sorry for bathing in like this. We needed somewhere away from the sun and heat. And while we waited for our energy to return."

"Oh, that's fine, that's fine! Did you enjoy my dungeon?"

"Uh…" he thought back to the body horror he went through as he tried to prevent them all from being killed. "Yeah. It was… an experience."

"Oh, I'm so glad! So, what are you kids doing in the desert so far from Winters?"

"We were investigating the pyramids nearby and looking for an artifact. The Hawk Eye. Would you happen to know anything about it?"

"Hm… not much! I mean, there are some legends, but there are legends about everything! No way to tell what's true or not!"

"Yeah, I guess… hey, you mind if we chill out up here before heading down? I don't really feel like fighting through more enemies to get to a rest station."

"No problem, no problem! Go ahead! I could use the company!"

"Thanks." They all sat down, and Anthony brought out his notes while turning the Hawk-Eye over and over in his hands. "So, Ant, figure anything out? You wanted to be useful, so now's your chance."

Antony's gaze turned determined at that, and he spread out his notes. "Alright. So, we know that a lot of ancient scriptures can be mostly fake, but in that fake writing is grains of truth. Here, listen to this part: 'Hiding beyond Time and Space.' Normally, I would take this as the invaders were from very far away, and took a long time to reach Earth, and while that may still be true, with how your PSI can warp space, and possibly even time, I believe that they may be referring to pocket dimensions."

"Those are like… small soap bubbles stuck to a bigger one, right?"

"Yes, it's a simple way of looking at it, but ultimately correct. And here, 'the Deep Darkness.' The way it's worded sounds like a physical place, one that can be found and entered. I searched up for legends about some kind of 'Deep Darkness,' and I've found a few. It's a place similar to the Bermuda Triangle, however, it isn't as widely known. It's some kind of cursed island with some kind of protection preventing people from investigating anywhere near the center of the island. People just get turned around towards the exit if they try to explore it. Some people believe that you have to have some form of a 'magic key' to get deep into the island. This could mean some form of PSI, or perhaps even the Hawk-Eye."

"Okay… So where is it?"

"Legends and attempted expeditions place it near Scaraba, across the 'poison river.' This could mean an actual poison river, or perhaps one that looks poisonous, like the river at Grapefruit falls."

"There's a purple river to the south," Brick Road spoke up from his hole in the wall.

"There is?"

"Yep, those robots outside keep talking about how they have to keep the Chosen Four from finding the poison accessway to the Deep Dark somewhere southwest-ish of here, across the ocean."

"Well, that's great!" Sapphire grinned nodded. "We just have to make our way south, and find some way across a poison river."

"I can take you there! I think it's about time Dungeon Man gets moving anyway!"

"This tower moves? Well, I suppose you said so earlier, but I don't see how such a large structure could function as a moving base…"

"Look out the eye holes over there, you can watch!" They got up and walked over to two large eye holes that looked out over the desert. The tower rumbled, before suddenly lifting even higher, before a foot that had been submerged in the sand took a step forward.

"Holy crap."

"We've got our own traveling tower!" Sapphire grinned, looking out over the river. "This is way easier than walking through the desert on foot!" Down below, several robot squids and UFO's began firing at the tower's feet, but it simply stepped on them, crushing them in one blow.

"It's certainly useful for travel," Anthony murmured, looking around in wonder, trying to figure out exactly how the structure worked.

"What do you think, Willow?"

"It's alright…" Sapphire looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, before sighing and looking away. She'd been dejected ever since finding out he'd nearly killed himself, and him firmly saying that he'd do so again eagerly if it meant saving any of the Chosen didn't help. She'd been the quietest he'd ever heard her, and it hurt him. He felt his heart squeeze whenever he saw her frowning or intentionally not meeting his eyes, but he couldn't just apologize. He'd be saying sorry without meaning it, and they both knew it. It was… probably best to just leave it be for now. Make up later. Hopefully.

* * *

"Of _course _it's a yellow submarine," he snarked, looking at the machine. Behind him Anthony snorted, looking through a pile of weaponry.

After having made their way, or really, after Dungeon Man had made its way through the desert, they had quickly reached a line of trees that Dungeon Man wouldn't have been able to pass, because it didn't exactly have legs to walk over them, and their roots would have caused the massive tower to overbalance had it tried walking through them.

However, they could see something in the far, _far _distance, the ocean slowly turned purple surrounding what looked to be an island with a dense amount of foliage preventing any light from getting through, and preventing from seeing anything past the first line of trees. But, there was a small inlet where water snaked through, just big enough for a small vehicle.

And luckily for them, Brick Road had a fully stocked garage in his basement which included a submarine. Ignoring the fact that the basement would be located at the statue's ass, they quickly made their way down and found said submarine, bobbing in the water. It was yellow, as Sapphire had dryly noted, but Anthony ignored it in favor of the weapons laying about.

He hefted up some kind of broken cannon, and though he struggled under the weight at first, the blond grinned as he looked it over. "I can fix this… replace the focusing crystal with my Laser Gun's… and the light gatherers could use some tuning…"

"Anthony, stop with the science, let's just get in the sub."

"I don't complain when you gush about your PSI," Anthony glared back, dragging the cannon into the submarine. Sapphire just rolled his eyes and followed him in with Willow behind him, still silent.

The inside of the sub was roomier than Sapphire expected, considering most movies portrayed them as cramped and cluttered. Of course, there wasn't _that _much room, but it was more than he was expecting. Several seats, consoles, a few viewports, even a few bunks for sleeping. "Alright, I'll see how to pilot this thing, it shouldn't take long."

"Roger dodger, Ant. This is pretty cool, ain't it, Wils?"

There was a moment where he childish glee shone clearly on her face as she looked around before she looked at him and it quickly dropped. She looked away, nodding. "It's… alright."

Sapphire winced and looked away as well. He slowly took a seat beside Anthony, who was blissfully unaware of the awkward tension in the air as he tapped away at several buttons and dials. "Auto-pilot? Useful, but with no preset course… unless I can set one? Maybe, but what if it isn't perfect and we crash? Perhaps…" he continued mumbling, and Sapphire sat twitching, wanting to touch a dial but afraid of hitting a self-destruct button. If it had one.

Eventually, Anthony looked up. "Sorry, were you waiting?"

"Not long."

Anthony glanced between him and Willow, before turning back to the controls. "Well, the good news is that we can reach this fabled Deep Darkness. The submarine will help guide me there, so it'll partially be autopilot, partially manual control.

"And the bad news?"

"Oh, there is none. Sorry if I worded it oddly." Anthony flipped a switch and suddenly the submarine shook, before the viewport, half-submerged already, lowered fully into the water. Since it was already dark within Brick Road, he couldn't see much, but he assumed that would change once they'd exited the tower.

He got his answer a few minutes later as pale light began filtering in through the river water. This time he could see better, but there wasn't much to look at. Just a plain riverbed and the patterns of the waves as sunlight flowed through them. He risked a glance behind him, and he watched Willow as she looked down at the patterns play across the sand. She had a half-smile on her face, happily looking at the lights, while something seemed to weigh on her mind. He licked his lips nervously as he thought about anything he could say that would break the tension.

An apology… would that work? In his mind, he thought that it wouldn't. If he didn't mean something, why would somebody accept it? To him, that logic made sense. It seemed simple enough, at least. He never understood why his mother wanted him to apologize to someone when she knew he wouldn't have meant it, like that time he'd punched a boy for bullying his sister. Hell, even his mom agreed that he didn't have to mean it, but he still had to apologize! Well, at least in the end justice was served, but still.

In any case, he had to do something to get rid of the depressing atmosphere. Anthony certainly wasn't going to do anything about it, having looked between them and muttered "lover's quarrel," before working on that odd cannon he'd dragged onto the submarine. Before he could, the light streaming through the viewports suddenly vanished, and the only visibility came from the lighting inside the vehicle, and some small spotlights on the outside.

"We've entered the darkness," Anthony intoned, probably more menacingly than he'd intended.

"Oh wow, I thought it would have been brighter in the Deep Dark," Sapphire snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Shove off," Anthony easily shot back, screwing something into place on his new cannon. Sapphire went back to looking out the window, trying to see if there was anything interesting in the gloom. The water was now light purple and getting darker as they went. Above them, trees blocked out the sunlight and were weighed down by vines and heavy leaves. Roots broke through the soil around the river, gnarling in odd shapes and greedily drinking at the poison water, somehow not dying, but instead becoming stronger.

The submarine finally breached the surface, and they could see clearly around them. The Deep Darkness was a gloomy place, the air was heavy and humid, and plants grew large and inbound by humanity. Sapphire spotted one plant that had leaves the size of his torso, and another with a mouth filled with long spines, which he just vaguely recalled from a book was called a Venus Fly Trap, although he was pretty sure they didn't grow to _five feet in height._

He took a large step away from that one, grimacing as the muddy water splashing against his feet soaked through his clothing and washed against his skin. There was that, too. The water was up to their knees at least, and it wasn't just muddy, there was something in it that made his skin prickle in discomfort, most likely the poison. But could poison hurt you if you didn't ingest it? Sapphire wasn't sure, but he wanted to get out of the water as quickly as possible, just in case.

Anthony spoke up, having looked around and come to the same conclusion. "We should start heading towards the center of the island. There are no real landmarks, so it's probably the smartest course of action."

"Hopefully there'll be less poison water there."

"Unfortunately, that probably won't be the case. The foliage seems to get denser the deeper you go, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was even more poison deeper in."

"Damn." Sapphire sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, before shaking his head. "Anyway, let's get moving. The less time spent on the poison island, the better."

* * *

Sapphire hissed as water splashed onto an open wound, and the giant flytrap he was holding back gnashed its fangs at him. He pulsed energy through his arms, and the wave of PSI caused the massive plant to bulge up grotesquely, red, yellow, and blue lighting it up from the inside before it exploded and sent green slime everywhere.

Sapphire stood there for a solid minute, contemplating why he was even born, as the slime slowly dropped down his face. "…I hate my life." After getting over his existential crisis brought on by plant innards, he summoned a wave of Fire to flow over his skin and clothes, quickly evaporating the slime. His new skill was weak, barely Alpha level, but it was enough.

Nightmare thought he was clever, having vastly more PSI knowledge due to being a creature born from it, and Sapphire's experiences, but Sapphire was clever in his own right. Nightmare thought telling him just a bit about PSI fundamentals wouldn't help him? Within the hour he'd learned how to use Fire from pure experimentation! Sure, he had an average intelligence when it came to his schoolwork and general book smarts, but he shone when it came to street smarts, and apparently, making shit up on the go.

PSI energy was just that, energy. On its own, it was shapeless and formless, like plasma. He was the one who molded it into shape. Noct could probably correct him on a lot of these things, since apparently, Dalaam had been studying PSI for centuries to get ready for Giygas, according to the prince. But either way, he was the one who transformed the formless energy into light energy for Flash. Or into… whatever kind of energy Hope was.

Willow did the same, shaping the energy into plasma for Thunder, or ice for Freeze. Nightmare changed it from energy to his darkness, and they both could harness PSI energy and supercharge their body's, accelerating the growth of cells to the point that grievous wounds closed within seconds. Lifeup.

So, he'd simply taken this principle, and messed around with it. All of his abilities he'd learned simply by fighting, they had always existed within him, and he unlocked them as he went, surprisingly similar to a level up system in a video game. Fire wasn't a move that was instinctive to him. He had the potential as Noct said, but it wouldn't be instinctual.

Well, partially, anyway. PSI was the energy of the mind, and thusly it reacted to his emotions and thoughts. With such a simple ability, it was as easy as commanding his energy to transform into flames. The hard part was not burning himself. Willow had instinctive control over her Fire, but he did not. Creating small flames was risky enough, and covering his whole body as he had was tough. Hell, he'd almost burnt himself the first time he'd used Fire, back at the Dungeon Man. He'd need much more practice before he could even think about using the Beta level.

But, with him being able to learn Fire, he felt a burst of determination. What other things could he learn? Paralysis was like a weaker version of Thunder, so maybe he could start with that. Or perhaps Freeze, since it was the opposite of Fire. There was a snapping noise, and Sapphire turned to see Anthony trip over a fallen branch as he ducked away from another plant.

Sapphire summoned up more blue flames, wincing as his skin was scorched slightly before he could thankfully extinguish them as Willow stepped in and blew the plant away with a single fireball. "Nice job, guys."

"Thank Willow, although I'm still not doing very much," Anthony sighed with a short, self-deprecating laugh leaving his lips.

"You're keeping track of where we came from and mapping this place out so we don't get lost. That's very important," Sapphire calmly explained back. "Willow, good job with the plants."

"Hm." Willow nodded and looked away. He coughed into his fist and turned away himself, not sure how to deal with the obvious dismissal. Then his cough turned into a real one before suddenly he was hacking, and he felt liquid splash onto his hand. He groaned in annoyance as he thumped his chest, simply assuming it was… whatever the liquid that Nightmare made was, before he saw its color. It wasn't a deep, glossy black like tar, but instead bright red. It was blood.

Immediately he did a damage check. The only wound he had was a cut on his arm. Nothing had pierced his chest— hell, not even his clothes were damaged. The only thing wrong was his soaked calves and shoes… that had been submerged in poison water…

Oh fuck.

He balanced shakily on one leg, lifting his other leg to check it.

It was horrible.

His jeans were goddamn _dissolving,_ and there were bleeding… _growths_ bulging from his skin, each an angry, dark purple, with multiple veins shooting off from each, spreading poison through his body. He pulled up his shirt and paled when he saw that the poison had nearly spread to his heart, the infected veins just barely below his chest, and he could _see them growing._ Underneath his skin lines of dark violet were crawling their way up, though thankfully, it was incredibly slow.

What would happen when it reached his heart? Why had he not felt it until then? Shit, that didn't matter! He coughed up more blood, and it mixed with the violet water he was standing in. Healing! It got rid of a cold at its Alpha stage, so if he poured as much energy as he could into it… could it cure this?

"Healing γ!" Green light surrounded him. For a brief, horrifying moment, nothing happened. Fear rose on the back of his mind. Something climbed up his throat. Was he choking on blood? Would that be how he died? Nightmare stirred as the creature sensed his counterpart's negativity and briefly wondered what in Giygas' name was happening.

Then, the purple growths popped, spitting out their liquid, and Sapphire watched as the infected veins were slowly being drained. He breathed out in relief, before turning to Willow and Anthony. Neither of them had noticed, Anthony focused on an impromptu map he'd made, and Willow looking off, away from both of them.

Neither of them showed any signs of infection… but then again, he hadn't even felt it. He ran up to them and grabbed Anthony's head, causing him to yelp. "Sapphire? The bloody hell are you doing?"

"Healing γ!" The blond's body flashed, and Anthony just continued to look at him confused.

"What was that about?" The boy suddenly flinched and fell to one knee, gripping his leg. "Wha—" he pulled up his pant leg to see his disintegrating clothes and the poison leaking from him. "Oh, Christ!"

Willow looked over, confused, only for her eyes to widen as she saw Anthony's leg. "What happened?!"

"The water isn't just poison if you drink it, it's seeping into our skin and burning through our clothes!" Sapphire grabbed Willow's shoulders next, pulsing the Healing PSI through her body. After a moment she winced and doubled over, the poison running down her legs.

"How does that even work?" Willow questioned, rubbing her legs.

"I'm not sure myself, but this isn't natural. Probably more PSI nonsense…" Anthony grumbled the last part as he knelt, cupping his hands and filling them with water. He brought it up to his face to study it, and Sapphire prepared to knock his hands away in case he tried to drink it. Anthony was nowhere near that stupid, but he wasn't taking chances. The scientist would probably try to explain it away as 'Learning through trial and error.'

Anthony sniffed at it, wrinkling his nose before his eyebrows shot up, and he let the water spill out with a splash. His hands looked fine on the first inspection, but when Sapphire looked closer, he could see that his skin was starting to peel and dissolve. It was incredibly slow, and he might have missed it if he didn't look close enough. "Oh dear. This stuff is corrosive."

"Yeah, no shit! But what the hell is the purple stuff about? And why was I the first one affected?"

"I'm not quite sure…" he rubbed his chin, before wincing as his raw skin burned. "For you being the first affected, of at least the first to notice the symptoms, I believe it's because you're the most active out of all of us. Willow and I mainly fight at range, with Willow rarely using her pan if need be, but your fighting style is running all over the place, blasting out PSI, bashing enemies with your bat, and jumping in front of attacks so we aren't hit. Your body is constantly moving, and thusly you're running on adrenaline much more than we are. Your blood is rushing that poison all over faster than ours is."

"Well great. It's not like I can change my fighting style suddenly."

"And with this poison being everywhere, we can't exactly avoid it," Anthony murmured, looking around. And he was right. Even at its shallowest, the water went up to their ankles at least. And at its deepest, it was several feet deep. Over their heads, although none of them had jumped in. They'd just stuck a long stick in, taller than Sapphire, and it had completely vanished in the murky water.

"What do we do?" Willow quietly asked.

"Not much we _can _do." Anthony brushes his hair back and stood up. "When did you notice?"

"I started coughing up blood. I pulled up my shirt and it was nearing my heart. Er, the purple veins, that is, they were nearing my heart."

"Well, that's a pretty obvious signal… alright, Sapphire since it affects you the fastest, you'll be our warning. Take off your shirt." He raised an eyebrow and removed his shirt, as Anthony told him to do. "Since there are no warnings until you start coughing blood, you'll have to keep an eye on your chest. When those veins appear again, heal yourself, then us."

"One problem," He interrupted, "I don't exactly have infinite PSI. Hell, I only recovered a small amount of it back at the Dungeon Man and on the trip here… I've been slinging around Alpha level attacks, and that skill was Gamma. I really can't afford to be using it that much…"

"…it's true," Willow quietly cut in. "I've only been using Alpha level stuff. I'm already running low, too."

He smiled slightly at Willow, hearing her speak more than a few words, before turning back to Anthony. "We have to find somewhere where we can rest. PSI regenerates on its own, but it takes a while."

"Damn…" Anthony grit his teeth, "then we can't take this slow. We have to make our way through this place as fast as possible, spending much less time on being careful. We can't afford to waste your PSI, we have to find someplace safe."

"I agree. Let's move."

"It would be easier if Noct-San was here… wherever he is, I hope he's alright. Him disappearing like that… well, it was so sudden that it most likely not his fault, but there's no way to tell for sure."

Sapphire twitched as a vision hit him. Not a premonition, it wasn't of the future, but an actual vision, since it was happening at the same time as 'now.' How he could tell, he wasn't sure.

_White energy surrounded Noct, as sparks flew from his body. His expression was usually a mask of calm, determination, and a sort of bored seriousness, but now it was mostly serious mixed with pain. He was struggling with something, but Sapphire couldn't tell what._

_A voice not on view spoke, "you almost have it, Noct-San. Focus."_

"_I-I will… I must accomplish this… Master and his friends need me… And you will return me to them!"_

"_I swore that I would. But you must master the Starstorm first. It is essential to do so."_

He snapped out of it and shook his head. "He's… he's okay. He'll meet up with us later."

Anthony narrowed his eyes, before nodding. "Alright. Then let's go, before our legs completely melt off."

Sapphire smirked. "Coward. Who doesn't like a little flesh melting from time to time?"

"Shove it, blue boy."

* * *

**Another week another chapter. **

**I love cosmic horror stuff like the early part of the chapter, where when Sapphire is forcing Nightmare into partial control so he could leech off of his energy, the discord starts affecting both his body and his mind, warping his face and body, along with affecting his voice and making him leak space ooze. That stuff is awesome. **

**And now we've reached the Deep Darkness. Yay poison. I took inspiration from Laluzi's "A Dead World" Fanfiction, where Alex Mercer is in the Fallout universe, specifically New Vegas, and his description of the Cloud from the Sierra Madre Casino in the Dead Money DLC, with a few changes. It's gruesome as hell, and I knew it would be perfect for a cursed place like the Deep Darkness. You should check out the story too, it's amazing. **

**Speaking of fics, check out Bound By Earth if you want a fic that spices things up. I'm definitely enjoying it as I read along, so check it out.**

**Anyway, review with what you liked, or just a 'nice.' both are great to read whenever I get 'em. **

**See y'all next time!**


	25. Chapter 25: Eye that Pierces the Dark

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Darkness

The swamp seemed to have been designed by the devil himself. Or just a really smart asshole. The deeper they went, the more treacherous the place became. Before, pockets of water deeper than they were tall were semi-rare, but there were more and more of them as time went on, and the poison also seemed to grow stronger. Earlier, it had taken at least thirty minutes to become noticeable in its effects. The poison slowly disintegrated their clothes and crawled up their bodies at a snail's pace.

But now, deeper in, the very _air _was choked in poison. Their skin was prickling every minute that they stood in it, and lumps of infected flesh formed faster and more frequently whenever water splashed them. They had taken to carefully walking along the roots of trees, but there were still times that they had to slog through waist-deep water, or Sapphire had to over-exert himself running around to defend them.

Sapphire winced as the flesh on his chest throbbed, poison water sliding down it, leaving small trails of red where his skin rubbed away. He resisted the urge to place his hand upon any of his wounds, knowing that would simply scrape away more flesh. "Lifeup α…" his skin knit together and closed, but his dwindling reserves of energy throbbed, reminding him of how little he could spare.

Heh. Lifeup. His least costly ability— the very first he'd unlocked no less! And simply using it caused his head to growl in agony, at a time where he should have been flinging PSI like nothing. And the atmosphere between teammates had only gotten worse. Willow now had to deal with a PSI induced migraine alongside her displeasure with him, and he was still too cowardly to try and fix anything in fear of making it worse, and too prideful to apologize for something he felt he shouldn't have had to apologize for.

At least one thing had come from it. Anthony had to stop being depressed and feeling like he had no use, to keep all of them on track. If he hadn't been there, he and Willow would have either one, gotten lost and would eventually die due to no PSI to heal, two, get into an argument and waste time before dying, or the least likely, three, actually survive.

Unfortunately, even with Anthony's map-making skills, they were making no progress. Add that to PSI induced migraines and his frustration with the place, and he was on the edge of a rampage. "Goddamnit, we've passed that tree _three _times already!"

"How would you know? Everything looks the same in this place," Willow grumbled.

"I can tell," he shot back, growling. "God, this place is a fucking nightmare… how much longer are we going to be stuck in here?!"

"You both need to calm down," Anthony scolded, glaring back at both of them.

"Yeah? I'll calm down when you give me an explanation for this."

"It's something supernatural. I've kept track, and we've made no turns. We _shouldn't_ have passed this tree so many times, yet somehow we have. I think this may pertain to the Hawk Eye. We have to somehow use it to find our way."

"Yeah, but how?!" He grabbed the thing and held it in front of him. "You can't look through it, it doesn't react to PSI, it's useless!"

Willow murmured something about being useless to herself with a dark look, and Anthony jolted, looking at her, before looking away with a mix of embarrassment and anger. "Jesus…" he rubbed his temples, before throwing his arms apart. "Alright, alright, alright, back on track! Listen, is there any way you can think of to use this thing?"

"Give it here!" Anthony snatched it and began examining it, causing Sapphire to narrow his eyes and glare at him, before snatching it back. "Listen, I'm sure I could figure it out better than you can!" Anthony grabbed it and pulled, and they growled at each other.

"Excuse me?! I could totally get this on my own!"

"Ha! _You _could figure it out?! When? Ten years from now?!"

"Are you saying you could figu**re** it out **fas**ter?!"

"Faster than you could that's for certain!"

"You—" he suddenly pulled _hard, _and Anthony was pulled off his feet, into him, and they fell back into the water, causing him to hiss as the flesh on his back burned. It wasn't deep enough for them to be submerged, but they both froze in fear when they heard a cracking noise. They looked to the side and saw the Hawk-Eye smashed into several pieces after having landed on a stone sticking out of the water.

"Oh fuck."

"What happened?!"

"What do you think happened?! The Hawk Eye is broken! Why didn't you help me?!"

Willow glared at Anthony, "help you?! The both of you were fighting like idiots, you couldn't even hear me trying to talk to either of you!"

"Well, why didn't you separa**te** us then?! You **saw** how **he** was **tryi**ng to take **the** thing! It's hi**s** **fa**ult that **it's** smas**hed**!"

She turned her glare to him, "it's both of your faults! And why would I pick sides?! You're both acting like idiots!"

"We may **have bee**n acting like **idiots**, but **at lea**st **neither** of u**s are** sulking around **because** we're a bit **upset that our friend d**id what was **best for all of us, but you si**mply can't **see it that w**ay!"

"Don't you take it there, I swear—!" Her hands crackled with flames and his own began lighting up with red and black sparks as a menacing chuckle rose in the back of his head that he didn't try to squash.

"**You'll what? At**tack me?! **Go ahead! I c**ould **beat y**ou t**o next w**ee**k if I tried!"**

The tension grew palpable until Anthony shoved between them and pointed at the stone. "Would you fucking listen to me and look?!" They both turned, and his eyes widened when he saw some kind of light emanating from the shattered pieces. Suddenly, the light grew blinding, and he had to shield his eyes.

When he lowered his arms, nothing seemed different at first glance, until he took a closer look. The slight fog that had covered the edges of their vision, that he hadn't even noticed until now when it was gone, had vanished. "**Wh**at the hell?"

"I knew it! There was some kind of PSI effect on our minds, keeping us from the correct path! Come on!" The blond rushed ahead, and he turned to Willow, who'd gone back to ignoring him.

**You don't need them, just be rid of them.**

**You saw the trouble they caused.**

He slapped a fist against his head, silencing Nightmare, before chasing after Anthony.

* * *

Sometime after, they encountered a familiar crashed helicopter. Anthony has immediately gone to see if he could salvage it, but Pokey was apparently smart enough to completely take out the engine and either drag it with him or hide it somewhere. They didn't have time to search, with Sapphire's PSI draining lower and lower as he healed them. They at least were able to look through its guidance systems and saw they were on the right track, Pokey had been heading for the center of the island before he'd crashed, so they needed to do the same.

The enemies only got stronger as they went. Instead of just stationary plants that spat poison, there were fish with spears, which admittedly didn't sound that bad until they'd revealed that some of them could use PSI, alligators, and surprisingly, piles of barf. They thought that they'd seen the last of those, but apparently, there were even more. And the reason why quickly became apparent.

Blocking their path had stood a massive pile of vomit, red and purple colored and seeming to shimmer, with two huge fangs and peering eyes. "You may have forgotten me," it burped, chuckling, "the one known as Master Belch! I fought and lost to you before, but I have become stronger, and am now known as Master Barf!"

"Name change or not," he growled back at the pile, not interested in prolonging a fight, "we'll still kick your ass."

"Gyorg gyorg gyorg! You've changed, haven't you? I wonder… how did you fare in Fourside?"

His eyes flashed as he remembered the taunts the Barf had thrown at him and his tenuous calm that had been slowly broken down by the dark and depressing atmosphere of the island finally snapped. "**D**IE!" Hope Omega shot from his fingertips, and the entire area was bathed in the bright colors. He sagged and coughed as his remaining reserves of energy were dried out, unable to use any more PSI.

Danger!

He ducked to the side as a spear of vomit shot past, before convulsing and drawing itself back into the cloud of dust he'd kicked up. Barf rolled out of it, cackling as its body reconstructed itself. "That attack may have nearly defeated me once, but it won't come anywhere near as close this time, especially with how weak you are now!"

"Shut it," he snarled. Next to him, Willow grabbed her pan and Anthony readied his weapons, but both had uncertain looks. Hope Ω was their strongest attack. What could any conventional weapons or Fires or Freezes do that it couldn't?

More spears of biomass shot forward, and everyone had to begin dodging as Barf cackled insanely. "We need a plan!"

"Yeah, can you come up with anything?!" He growled back at Anthony.

"Yes, actually!" The boy easily shot back. "We need Noct! He's not fatigued at all, and he could help us!"

"How do you know he's not fatigued? And how could we even contact him?!"

"You're the ones with Telepathy! Figure it out!"

"Cover me." Willow stepped back, hunkering down behind a tree and began concentrating.

"**Wh**at?! **I'm** not **stic**king m**y** nec**k** ou**t—**"

"Do it, damn it! Sapphire, we need to give her time!"

"Ngh… fine!" He jumped forward and swung, but his bat merely squished into Barf's body and did nothing.

"Geh heh heh, what did you think that would do?"

"It certainly helped calm me down! Just looking at you is pissing me the fuck off!" He let out a scream, before slamming his bat down again. Letting out some of his anger on the creature sounded fantastic, now that he thought about it.

He rolled aside as a lance of vomit flew past, before another cut through his shoulder. He cried out and grasped it, clenching his hand, before yelling and bringing his bat down on Barf again.

A beam of energy blasted through Barf and distracted him from attacking him again, instead of focusing on Anthony. The blond ducked behind a tree as Barf's body pierced through the bark to get at him, clumsily diving to the side before firing a larger Bottle Rocket than he usually had. Sapphire jumped back and watched as Barf's body was blasted apart, giving him a few seconds to catch his breath.

"I've only got a few of these," Anthony shouted at him, "I made them from some of the materials in Dungeon Man's garage. We'll have to space them out and use them when we're in trouble!"

Danger.

He simply ignored Anthony and focused on his danger sense, getting ready for another round of ducking and diving. Spikes of liquid shot by, several drawing blood as they nicked his flesh and delivering Barf's vile poison into his veins alongside Deep Darkness' natural poison. A spike pierced his calf but he refused to go down, continuing to move. He only just noticed now, but he was getting slower. Both of the poisons flowing through his body were mixing together and he could feel a mixture of bile and blood rising in his throat, threatening to explode out at any moment.

What the hell was taking Willow so long? Wasn't her specialty devastating PSI and Telepathy? Why wasn't Noct here already?

Danger.

He couldn't react in time. Another spike pierced the side of his torso, and he fell to the ground, splashing water on himself. He attempted to get up, only for Barf to slice more spikes through him, and push him fully under.

He hissed as he felt his skin away due to the deadly water, before coughing as that very water poured down his throat. He struggled, every few seconds managing to stick his head above the water and cough, before being pushed back under. In the few instances he could break free he heard Anthony yelling about what was taking Willow so long and the blasts of his weapon as he tried to get Barf to free him.

The intervals between him coming up for air steadily grew larger as he grew weaker, and he could feel his brain clouding up as his throat and lungs burned, a mixture of a need for oxygen, and the poison pouring down his throat.

**Let go of consciousness, fall into an eternal sleep. You can rest now.**

He heard a familiar, deep voice, but didn't pay attention to it. He was slowly slipping as his eyes fluttered and closed.

**Such a long journey in so short a time. You never asked for such a perilous destiny. You can relax.**

But… he didn't ask for it, but he should still fight, right? If he didn't, no one else would, besides the other Chosen… he had to…

**Sleep… let me finally live, truly, as my own self.**

He… he could…

He felt a warmth in the back of his mind, alongside… whoever had been speaking, contrasting its coldness. It sounded like it's opposite, lighter and airier than it, comforting and soft.

_Will you truly let go now?_

Why shouldn't he? The other, darker voice seemed to want to be free of something, and if he let go, he'd let the voice free. Wouldn't that be the nice thing to do? And… he was tired. He wanted to let go.

_What about Anthony, Willow, and Noct? What will happen to them?_

They… they would be fine… why should he care anyway? Willow was angry at him for something he'd done to protect them, and Anthony thought he was better than all of them just because he was smarter than them… and Noct was… what was Noct? There had to be something about him…

_Deep Darkness has a poison that does not just affect your body, but your mind and soul… it takes your negativity and amplifies it… you must not let this happen…_

That sounded bad… but so what? It would be over soon…

_What of your sister and mother and father? What of the friends you've made? Apple Kid, Frank, Everdred… you must not let Nightmare, nor Giygas, win._

Nightmare… that sounded familiar… but everything was slipping away. He unconsciously tried to grasp at something, anything, as thoughts and memories slipped away and the dark presence dominated more of his mind, with the light one weakening with him.

**Don't listen… it's almost time.**

_Fight, Leader of the Chosen Four._

Leader… that's right… he was supposed to protect them… but what did he do? Get angry at them for trivial things…

**You have every right to hate them.**

_They would stand beside you no matter what… fight to get back to them, Chosen._

They were… he couldn't… he couldn't remember their names… In his mind, his body was slowly sinking into a bottomless black and red sea, composed of Nightmare's essence as it slowly took control of his dying body. If his mind died, but not his body, Nightmare could fix it up good as new, to use as his own. It simply had to drown the boy in darkness, and that was nearly done.

His torso was completely engulfed, sinking into death, and his left arm was pulled under next. He looked up, the remaining tinges of desperation slowly slipping from his face as it was covered, with his arm being the last to go. The liquid went up from his shoulder, to his elbow, to his wrist. However, just before his hand went under, it grabbed something. It was a final strand of thought, a memory of… something. He pulled, desperate to see what it was.

It was a memory of Willow. They were walking together, somewhere, laughing. Her eyes were bright and sparkling, and her laughter was warm and lifted his heart and his smile grew even bigger. What they were laughing at was lost to darkness, but it had been some kind of joke he told, and she was falling over from laughter, slapping him on the arm. He felt a clenching in his chest, some emotion that he'd always felt, but was more prominent and noticeable for some reason.

His mindscape brightened up ever so slightly, and another strand drifted down that he grabbed instinctively. This one was of Anthony, the two of them fighting their way through Moonside together, up the twisted tower. Even though they had felt a sense of urgency to escape the place, they'd gotten closer as they fought, brothers in arms in a way. He felt another emotion, unlike Willow's in which he didn't know the name, this one was familiar. Joy. Joy to be fighting alongside a friend.

He felt the pull of Nightmare, and he recognized the unending, featureless blob as Nightmare now, lessen. He reached up and grasped a strand of memory that fell into his hand. Scenes of Noct played out in his mind. He did not have as many memories of the older boy as he did his other two companions, so several smaller, stitched together events appeared, all of them involving Noct Performing a feat of PSI or physical prowess, that filled him with… Awe. Awe at the skill of his newest friend.

More strands fell from nothing, intertwining into a rope that he pulled at, or maybe it pulled him, to free him from Nightmare's grasp. He'd gotten his head handed to him… but he wasn't giving up.

_Because that is who we are._

The voice was welcome. It was like Nightmare, familiar in that it sounded like him, yet different in how welcome it was. Also, it didn't count them as separate, instead using the word us instead of you.

_We would fight to our dying breath if it meant protecting someone. The Darkness may have clouded this, but I am here to guide you, to shield you. I am with which we will see through the lies._

Son of a bitch.

The Hawk-Eye had given him another goddamn voice in his head.

**Succumb.**

_Fight._

Well, at least it was on his side. A grin slowly formed as he was dragged from the sea of his unconscious, and another rope made of memory strands descended for him to grasp with his other hand. He was slowly escaping, and he could feel his body's awakening with the _right _mind in it. His. Not Nightmare's.

**No!**

_Our bonds are that which we shall use to free ourselves. Fight, for them._

He continued to struggle until only his feet were still trapped. Just before he was pulled free, the consistency of the liquid on his feet changed, and he looked down to see Nightmare in his human form, grasping at his legs.

**NO! It is my turn!**

The creature made of negativity was practically hissing and spitting, it's usual facade of calm and dark-humor gone.

**I **_**will **_**live! I deserve to! You cannot keep me trapped forever, Child!**

_We can. And we will. And, once we have reached Eden, you shall disappear forevermore._

He narrowed his eyes, agreeing with the voice's words but not voicing his own, and reared back, before kicking Nightmare in the face. The monster howled and tried to swipe at him, but he merely kicked again. And again. He continued until Nightmare finally let go. The monster drifted back into the Sea of his Soul, finally going silent once more.

He breathed out in relief when he felt the pull on him cease, and the strands he had been grasping were suddenly absorbed into him. He looked around, not knowing what to do next when he felt a presence behind him. He turned and for a moment thought he'd been looking into a mirror until he noticed the differences.

Silver eyes instead of brown, white hair instead of black, and instead of red and blues on his clothing they had gold and blue.

_It's time to return to our body._

"Yeah, uh, is this going to be a thing? You always talking in my head like Nightmare?"

_I am not another creature housed within your soul and mind as the Mani-Mani is. I am simply the Hawk-Eye, merged with your subconscious to help protect you from Deep Darkness' effects. I have only spoken when you were in imminent danger and will continue to do so._

Wait a minute. "My danger sense or whatever… that was you?"

_No. I have told you already I am—_

"Yeah, the Hawk-Eye merged yada-yada. But my danger sense, has that always been my subconscious then?"

_Yes. Your subconscious is where your danger sensing ability lies, always protecting you. I will simply take over now._

"God this is confusing."

_Then do not think of it._

He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a trace of sarcasm in the creature's voice.

_It is time to return to our body. Outside less than a second has passed. We can still stop our body from rotting and prevent Barf from spearing our friends._

"Wait, my- our- whatever, body is still alive?"

_Yes. But it has mere seconds before the poison of Deep Darkness disintegrates it._

"Then it's time to go." He steeled himself, gathering up every last dredge of courage. If only seconds had passed, Noct probably wasn't there yet. He was going to be risking his life yet again to buy time.

But he was fine with that. He was protecting his friends.

His eyes snapped to attention and they suddenly burned, before with a burst of PSI he launched himself out of Barf's grip. His body was _burning. _His clothes had fused with his flesh, well, those that haven't been completely dissolved, and the rest of his skin and muscle was nearly all gone, and bone was showing up here and there.

But he had to fight. He pushed every last ounce of energy he had into a Lifeup, and watched as his healing process was accelerated and multiplied a-hundred fold, before all of his body was back, minus parts of his shirt and pants. He stood tall, as tall as a thirteen-year-old could stand, and grasped his bat. Barf roared in anger, something about him not dying when he should, and he tightened his grip.

_Danger._

The voice whispered into his ears and the back of his mind, warming him. It was softer now that his Danger Sense had an actual entity talking with him, but still easy to hear. He ducked under a spear and charged. He would buy as much time as was needed.

* * *

"…_t… Oc… N…t… Noc…!"_

Noct snapped his eyes open. Was that Willow-San? No one was there, besides the Star Master. So then, it could have only been Telepathy. Or his imagination. But he'd never been very creative with anything besides fighting. "_Willow-San?"_

"_Finally! Where are you?!" _She sounded upset. And I'm a hurry. He supposed that she might be angry since he'd been gone for so long, but it was quite a surprise to hear the younger girl with anything resembling anger.

"_I'm not quite sure myself. A man calling himself the Star Master kidnapped me to teach me a powerful skill. I apologize for the inconvenience this must have caused."_

"_Screw that! Get over here!"_

He finally noticed the alarm alongside the anger. "_What is the matter? Is Sapphire-San alright?"_ He'd admit it, he only continued calling Sapphire-San Master simply because his exasperation was amusing. As the King-to-be, he wasn't allowed much childishness, so he'd take the small amount he could get. But this wasn't the time for jokes.

"_Aside from the fact that I'm _pretty sure he DIED, _he's fighting off Barf, uh, an old enemy, but we don't have the PSI to kill him! We need you here now!"_

"_I'm on my way," _he immediately answered. They needed him, and they needed him _now. _As he got up, he noticed the Star Master watching him. "My apologies, but—"

"I know. But you only know of Starstorm Alpha… we have not yet gone over Omega."

"There is no time! I assure you, I do wish to learn of Omega, but my fellow Chosen— My _friends _are in danger! I must leave!"

"Then I suppose I shall teach you one last thing. Along with Teleport Alpha and Beta, there exists Gamma and Omega. They pertain to teleporting not to a previously visited location, but to the location of a mind. Essentially, you are transporting yourself to where someone exists. As you've not been to Deep Darkness, you will have to teleport directly to your friends."

The Star Master grasped his head, and he felt the knowledge of Gamma and Omega stream into him. It would be dangerous to use without practice, but he would have to disregard that for now. "Thank you, Sensei."

"I will teach you Omega another time. Good luck, Prince."

He bowed while focusing his energy. He could see in his mind's eye three specks, one white, Anthony-Sensei, one pink, Willow-San, and one blue, Sapphire-San. There was a burst of light as he began running, the world twisting around him in the odd dimension that the Star Master trained in. "Teleport γ!"

The world warped, and he suddenly felt a depressing atmosphere pressing down on him before he was in the air above a pile of puke with eyes that was shooting spikes of itself at Sapphire-San. Time to put his new ability to work. "Starstorm α!"

The spectacle would have astounded him if he was witnessing it for the first time, but he was not. His body glowed with energy, before that energy shot up into the sky, before turning and raining back down in the shape of stars that ranged from four to seven points. Each one homed in on Barf, and when they impacted they erupted into an explosion of energy, and the monster was utterly obliterated.

He landed hard, making sure to roll so he didn't break or crack anything, before looking around. Anthony-Sensei was standing by a tree, weapon lowered and breathing heavily from running around, Willow-San was leaning against it and watching him, and Sapphire-San was standing in front of where Barf had stood, panting even harder than Anthony-Sensei.

He looked closer and spotted odd, purplish-veins were creeping up out of his shirt. Actually, everyone had infected looking patches of skin, usually starting at their feet and traveling up. "What happened?"

"Deep Darkness happened," Anthony-Sensei croaked. "Can you heal poison?"

"I am an experienced healer, it is my specialty."

"Your what," Sapphire-San asked deadpan. He tilted his head in confusion, before shaking it and focusing green light into his hands. "Healing γ." Once everyone was cured of their ailments, Sapphire sighed and rubbed his neck while he watched. "Sapphire-San, I truly am sorry for disappearing as I did. The Star Master took me before I had realized what happened, and—"

He was cut off when Sapphire-San gave him a tired yet sarcastic smile and pat him on the cheek condescendingly. "Oh, don't worry. I had everything under control. It was only by their begging that I allowed them to call you."

He let a rare snort escape him. If Sapphire-San was joking like that, he was feeling better. "Well then, shall we?"

His leader nodded, making sure everyone was alright and following him, and began walking through the murky swamp. Noct could feel the depressing atmosphere press down on him, although there was something else there too, niggling into his mind, something dark and dangerous. The others most likely couldn't feel it as they were not as trained as him, but he felt it. It was a miracle they'd been able to make it so far, even with the Hawk-Eye to guide them. Hopefully, they'd find whatever they needed to find deep within the island's depths soon. Even his own mind wouldn't be able to withstand the constant pressure on his mind.

As they walked, Sapphire took a moment to reach down and snatch a purple mushroom from the ground, looking it over before putting it in his bag. "Maybe you _shouldn't_ grab random mushrooms from a place doused in poison," Anthony-Sensei suddenly cut in with a touch of sarcasm.

"Hey, it looked interesting," Sapphire-San chuckled. "Now c'mon… the air is getting heavier."

"I assumed that was simply my imagination…"

"No, the air itself may be poisonous, but the real danger is whatever is pushing down on our minds and creating this… emotional cocktail that's been affecting us. It's getting stronger the deeper we go in."

He didn't speak up, as he'd hit the nail on the head, so to say. "So, the question is, is it an eye-of-the-storm situation, where the center is calm, or will it be even worse at the center of the island? Noct-San, can you tell?"

"Hm. I am unsure. It is steadily growing stronger, but there is no way to tell if there is a safe zone."

"Of course you can't," Willow-San spat. He didn't get angry. This was simply the miasma of Deep Darkness affecting her.

"Lay off him," Anthony-Sensei sighed, a mixture of exhaustion and anger tinting his voice. "At least he's can fight. He's the only person here not completely out of PSI."

"Well—"

"Enough," Sapphire-San snapped. "Enough. We're going to get through this, just trust me on this. If you've got something to say, say it to me."

"Hmph."

"…"

"…Alright then. Let's get back to it."

* * *

They had finally caught a break. The dense, unrelenting swamp had gotten shallower and the trees overhead stopped reaching out and revealed a clear sky above them filled with stars. They took the last step onto dry land, and each of them could feel a weight being lifted, even Anthony, as Deep Darkness' mind-altering effects wore off.

Willow practically collapsed as the frustration and anger the dark forest had filled her with fled her body, leaving only emptiness. He quickly scrambled to pick her up and check her pulse, before having Anthony and Noct-San perform more thorough checks. When they found out that she was simply exhausted, he sighed in relief before slinging her onto his back to carry her. Anthony was similarly exhausted but refused to stop until they could find somewhere they could rest safely.

Their chance came when they found a cave heading down into the earth, and they quickly began descending, with Anthony's light shining the way. The cave went deeper than they expected, deeper and deeper into the earth. When they reached an opening in the rock, they walked out and observed… small, thin creatures that looked at them with wide eyes. They all scrambled away from the Chosen Four, hiding behind rocks and in crevices, only a few brave enough to peek out at them.

"Uh… Huh." Sapphire crept forward and slowly waved. "Hello… can you all understand me?"

Several of them ducked back, with only one or two staying. "Y-Yes," one whispered. "Tenda are… Tenda are just very shy."

"Oh. Uh, we're just looking for somewhere to rest. We can leave though if you want."

"No," the creature whispered, a Tenda, apparently. "It's fine… you all look tired… as long as you don't surprise anyone, it should be okay… we have Inn further in…"

"Right. C'mon, guys." They made their way doesn't the rocky hallways and found a Tenda standing by an opening. "Is this the inn?"

"Y-Yes… free stay… you want?"

"That'd be very nice," Anthony nodded. They walked in, and the blond's eye twitched. "Okay, I see why it was free." It was a simple rock room, no beds, no bathroom, just rock.

"Just peachy…" Sapphire sighed and set Willow down, before pulling open his bag and grabbing some extra clothes to cushion the floor, and a new shirt and pants to replace his dissolved one, wincing as he pulled it from where it melded with his skin. The other boys did the same, and began changing all of them were too tired to care about being embarrassed, and Noct-San probably just didn't give a crap. He was more worried about Willow, but since her dress was just disintegrated near the bottom, up to her calf area, it was probably fine to let her keep wearing it.

They hunkered down and Anthony was instantly asleep, not even bothering to try and reach for any tools. Noct-San stayed up for a moment, looking over them all once more for any lingering poison or injuries, before falling asleep. He was the only one that stayed awake. He lay on his makeshift bed, hands folded behind his head and staring at the ceiling. After what had happened, he couldn't sleep.

He stayed like that for a while, before someone stirring drew his attention. He turned his head and spotted Willow slowly sitting up, yawning and covering her mouth. She looked around in confusion as she rubbed her eyes, before blinking as she saw she was in an unknown place. He watched as she rubbed her head in confusion before the memories of what happened likely returned and her eyes widened. "Hey," he whispered and watched her eyes snap to his him.

"Sapphire… I don't… I'm so sorry I don't know what came over—"

"It's fine. It was Deep Darkness' mind fuckery messing with everyone. Did you hear Anthony cussing? It was hilarious."

Her lips quirked into a smile for a second, and that odd feeling he'd felt back when he was fighting Nightmare and regaining his memories returned. "No, it wasn't just that. Well, a small part, but… I should still apologize. Back in Dungeon Man, when you… you did that thing with Nightmare… it scared me so much, I thought you were dying. And then… and then you say that you were willingly giving him control sometimes to help us, and you would gladly die for us, and it scared me and hurt me and I… I-I just don't want you to be hurt…"

"Willow, come on. I'm not blaming you for any of that. You…" he swallowed his pride and shook his head. "You had a right to be angry at me."

"No, I don't!" She hushed herself when Anthony snorted in his sleep, rolling over. "I mean, it's like he said… I'm being super hypo… hypc…"

"Hypocritical."

"Shut up… but yeah, that, because I hated that you would sacrifice yourself to save me… but I would sacrifice myself for even a chance of saving you…"

"I think… humans can just be really hypocritical when it comes to people we're friends with. Especially so when you're close enough with a person to be ready to die for them," he let out a weak chuckle.

"Yeah, but I-I endangered everyone because I just couldn't let it go, and when we were—"

"I told you, that was the mental effect this place has on us. Don't worry about that." He crawled over and hugged her, causing her to let out a squeak of surprise while he blushed for some reason, and continued. "Why don't we just agree that we're both sorry, and forget about this stupid argument?"

Willow buried her face into his shoulder, and he felt wetness through his shirt. "…ve y…"

He blinked, confused. "Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Nothing…" she wiped her face and smiled. "Thanks, Sapphy. That made me feel better."

"No prob. I can't sleep, so I'm going to go for a walk. Be back in a bit."

"'Kay. Stay safe."

He walked out of the room and smiled as he looked back, before sighing and diving into his head. The Hawk-Eye version of him, or whatever, was nowhere to be seen, but he supposed that the little area he talked to Nightmare in was closed off from the rest of his mind. Speaking of, the creature was simply floating there, hands behind his head and eyes closed. "Hey."

He cracked open an eye and raised an eyebrow. "**And the prodigal son returns. What do you want?"**

"Well, I kinda want to talk about how you attempted to take over my body without permission earlier."

Nightmare rolled his eyes. "**Oh please. What, you think I'm only going to try and take over when you permit me? No, you had almost died, and I could have taken control fast enough to heal your body and stay in control forever thanks to your mind passing away. But **_**nooo, **_**that weird-ass eye thing had to resuscitate you, or whatever the hell it did."**

"Right…" he closed his eyes for a moment. "Well, whenever you're ready."

"…**ready for what?"**

"What, you don't remember? I made a deal with you, you get to have some time to yourself controlling my body because you saved my friends."

Nightmare stared at him, before bursting into laughter. "**Oh man, you really are stupid."**

"We made a deal. I hate you, but you fulfilled your end, so I'll fulfill mine."

"**What, are you going to ignore the fact that I tried to get you to embrace death just a little while ago?"**

"No. But I figure that if I give you the chance to control my body without having to kill me, you'll eventually chill the fuck out."

Nightmare just kept staring at him, confused, before letting out a scoff. "**Whatever. Don't start suddenly regretting this."**

"Remember the rules."

"**Yeah, yeah."** Suddenly, Nightmare was gone, and he watched as his body moved, with someone else behind the wheel. Nightmare clenched his fists a few times, looking down at them, before walking forward. He watched as Nightmare made his way through the hallways of Tenda Village, glaring at any Tenda that looked at him. He winced internally, noting that he'd have to apologize to any Tenda's that would try and talk to him the next morning, but at least Nightmare wasn't attacking them.

Nightmare eventually made his way outside and sat down on some grass. The edge of the marsh was several dozen meters away, and a few clouds of poison gas puffed out of it every few minutes, but none came close enough to endanger him. Them. Whatever. He watched as Nightmare continued to sit there, feeling the breeze ruffle his hair and look into the swamp. He expected Nightmare to try and go into the place to kill something, but no, they just sat there.

Eventually, Nightmare lay back and looked up at the stars. There were tons more visible than there ever were in Onett. Small as the town may have been, there was still enough light pollution to block some of the stars out. This was probably the first time he'd seen so many at once, and when he thought about it, it was the same for Nightmare too. Nightmare just kept sitting there, looking up at the sky, saying nothing. He wondered to himself what exactly Nightmare was doing. It was weird to watch negativity itself just sit there and watch the stars, but if that's what Nightmare wanted to do, that's what he'd do.

Eventually, he spoke up. "It's getting late, and my body needs to rest."

"**Right. You have all of those human limitations."**

"Shove it." There was a dizzying sensation as he took control, and shook his head. Nightmare went dormant once more, and he walked back towards the village. Tomorrow they'd see if they could find exactly what they were supposed to be searching for on the island, but, that was tomorrow. Now, he needed his rest. When he got back to their stone room he immediately collapsed down onto his makeshift bed, and Willow rolled over, muttering, before settling down again.

He smiled, before closing his eyes.

* * *

**Chapter donezo.**

**Not much to say this chapter, hope you enjoyed. review with what you liked, or just a 'nice.' Both are great to read. Also, I'm happy to share that this story has exceeded 1,500 views. Thanks to all of you so much for checking out my amateur**** writing, it means a lot to me to see so many people reading this. My story may not have as many favorites or follows as other stories, but as long as people enjoy it, that's all I care about. It's why I don't care for asking for them, lol.**

**Anyway, see y'all next time.**


	26. Chapter 26: Men of Silver

Chapter Twenty-Six: Men of silver

After waking up the next morning, the party of four quickly realized they had no food to eat. Noct was fine with this, stating that part of his training was sitting still without eating or drinking for long periods, but the rest of them just stared at him, exasperated, before Sapphire decided to teleport back to Onett to grab some food.

"You guys try and find out more stuff about this place, I'll be back in a flash."

"Stay safe!" He nodded at Willow's words, before crouching down and beginning to run. A flash of light surrounded him, and suddenly he was back in his hometown. He tried to skid to a stop but tripped and fell onto his face.

"Goddamn bullshit ass…" he got up and dusted himself off, looking around. He was in the downtown area, near a diner that he visited sometimes which served breakfast foods. "Alright, I'll get some omelets or something to go, then maybe some burgers for future meals…" with a plan set he made his way towards his destination, pulling out his wallet to make sure he had enough money.

"Yeah, should be enough… might check an ATM to withdraw some more though, just in case." He observed Onett as he walked, wanting to see if anything was odd or amiss in his hometown. Nobody seemed to be acting weirdly, so there probably wasn't any trouble in town. There might have been some animals outside that were still under Giygas' control, but he didn't have time to check.

The inside of the diner was peaceful as always, and the man behind the counter smiled. "Ah, Sapphire! Haven't seen you around for a while!"

"Ha, yeah, haven't had much time, ya know? Baseball and stuff…" It was technically the truth. After all, he was beating up creatures with a baseball bat. He placed his order and sat down at the counter, looking around. He didn't see any of his friends from their clubhouse or the baseball team, but it was late at night in Onett after all.

Back at Deep Darkness, it had been early morning, but since he was back on the other side of the world, it was probably around ten at night. Tracey would be asleep by now, and he didn't exactly want to wake her up… he decided to call the next morning and nodded to himself, looking up when the man returned with his food wrapped up. "Thanks," he nodded, handing over the money to pay.

He exited the diner after stuffing the food into his bag and checked for cars before using Teleport to return to Tenda Village. This time he kept running and slowed down gradually instead of trying to come to a halt right away, and managed to stay on his feet. He entered the caves, making his way back towards their room.

"…you're all fools! How can none of you have an interest in scientific advancement?! Cowards!"

"Oh lord, what did I come back too?"

Anthony immediately turned to him as he entered and threw his arms out. "Sapphire, help me explain the glory of history to them!"

"History for me is what I ate for breakfast, don't drag me into whatever this is."

"Ugh, neanderthals, all of you!"

"I value history," Noct shrugged. "However, I'm not sure what the value of the Scarabian religion has when compared to their methods of fighting Giygas."

Anthony just threw his arms up in frustration while Sapphire sat down and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, when did you start getting interested in ancient religions?"

"After I realized that one of the rooms in the pyramid was filled with hieroglyphs pertaining to their religion!" He held up a page covered in sketched hieroglyphs that he probably copied from said room. "We translated it and saw how fascinating it was!"

"But it's just a bunch of super old people stuff!" Willow shook her head and grabbed an omelet, biting into it. Without a fork or knife. Sapphire snorted at the sight.

"Hush, it's amazing! They were one of the religions that had multiple gods, like the Greeks and Romans, and unlike Judaism and Christianity! They had gods of the sun, moon, space, creation, oceans, death, it's fascinating!"

"Yeah," He drily replied. "Fascinating."

"Alright smartass, here." He looked at some of his notes. "They, like some other ancient religions, believed that the gods had Patron animals, or had animal forms themselves. The god whose patron animal was a Hawk was Napil, God of Clarity, Sight, and Resilience." When He simply raised an eyebrow in response, Anthony groaned. "Ugh… It's notable because _what _artifact did we use to get through Deep Darkness? The Hawk-Eye! And that was a direct translation. Another translation is 'Napil's Gaze!'"

"Huh. Yeah, I guess that's pretty interesting." He bit into his own omelet, actually using his fork and knife like a civilized person, thinking to himself. When he thought on it, the Hawk-Eye, or Napil's Gaze, or whatever, had given him a whole other voice in his head… maybe he could talk with it or something and ask it about all of this. It actually _was_ kind of interesting…

"Oh, oh, what god has a dog as a pat-thingie?"

"Patron," Anthony answered, rolling his eyes at Willow. "And none of the gods have a dog, but the Goddess of Hunting, Stealth, and Shadows, Skiella, had a wolf."

"Aw… Stealth is boring!"

He snorted and Anthony rolled his eyes. "Alright, what about the god of Crossroads, Death, and Rage, Viol-fo, and his patron animal, the Necrosis Bat, a bat that grows up to three feet in length and five in wingspan? Another translation for his name is Wolfe."

"Crossroads?"

"Well, part of the Scarabian religion is a concept surprisingly similar to multiverse theory, or parallel universes. Do you know what that is?"

"Maybe?"

"Ugh… it's… hm… it's the theory that every single choice we make creates a new timeline or parallel universe. If you're choosing between pancakes or waffles, and choose waffles, a universe is born where you choose pancakes."

"Huh… so is there a timeline where you don't exist?"

"In theory, yes."

"Damn, and I'm stuck in the one where you _do _exist. Truly, the darkest timeline."

"Shove it. Of course, this means that there are universes where maybe none of us were born, or maybe Giygas never invaded and we lived peaceful lives. Ones where we have different names, or different journeys. It's infinite, meaning literally everything is possible. Viol-fo being the god of Crossroads means he governs what can cross between worlds, along with the Viol-fo's of other timelines. If this were all real, of course. I'm not saying it is."

"I'm totally lost but it sounds awesome," Willow cheered.

"Yeah, yeah. In any case, I can't wait to translate the rest of this. Even if it doesn't help to defeat Giygas, the historical knowledge held in these hieroglyphics is wonderous!"

"Wait, Noct-San isn't translating it for you?"

"I translated some of it, yes…"

"But then I learned the rest of it and am now pretty much fluent."

"How the fuck."

Anthony shrugged. "I'm good with languages."

Willow stroked her chin. "Is it possible to learn this power?"

"No, no prequel memes. We don't speak of those abominations."

"What are midichlorians?"

"Enough!" They all started laughing except for Noct, who just looked confused.

"Anyway, what exactly are we doing next? We've pretty much reached the center of the island, but I'm not spotting Pokey or any Sanctuaries."

"We could attempt to ask the Tenda," Anthony mused, "check with them to see if they know of any spots that could be Sanctuaries."

"They're pretty shy though, will they be able to tell us anything?"

"I'm sure we'll be able to get something. Just throw Willow at them and use the overpowering nature of an extrovert," he snickered.

"I think that might be a bit much for them," Anthony drawled back.

"I'll get the truth outta them!" He shook his head and motioned her down.

"Yeah, that was a joke. I'm pretty sure they'll all go into hiding the second you say one sentence to them." They exited their room and began wandering the halls, looking for any of the Tenda. Within the first few steps, however, his receiver phone rang. He raised an eyebrow and picked it up, wondering how signal could even reach Deep Darkness, let alone penetrate into the cave system. "Howdy?"

"Ah, Sapphire! I wanted to call and inform you that a new invention I was working on, the 'pencil eraser-eraser,' is almost complete!"

"Excuse me, the what."

"Anyway, I'm in Winters right now at Doctor Andonuts' laboratory—"

"Wait, what're you doing there?"

"Plot."

"Ah, of course. Carry on."

"Anyway, I also wanted you to know… people have been disappearing from Winters."

"What?"

"So you don't know… I hoped that you had some answers. People don't know what's going on, and they're becoming afraid. They at first thought it was just some rabid animals when it all started a few weeks ago, but now people are going missing…"

"Sorry, but I don't know. We'll try and investigate it, though."

"That's a relief. I'm glad to hear that— hey, what the heck—?!"

"Dude? Hey, are you alright?"

"Sapphire? What's happening?" He waved away Anthony's question, trying to hear what was happening on the other end of the phone.

"—Lemme— I'll— help!"

"Shit," he cursed and ended the call, grabbing his stuff. "It's Apple Kid. He was in Andonuts' lab in Winters, and something happened. Apparently, people are being kidnapped over there."

"Tony…" Anthony muttered, before shaking his head. "Right, let's get a move on then." They made their way to the exit of the cave, several Tenda watching them from small hiding places before Sapphire gathered energy.

A flash of light later and the temperature dropped harshly, and he and Willow were quickly shivering. "F-fucking cold…"

"Weaklings."

"Shut the ass your mouth." They approached the normal-looking laboratory, looking for anything off. "I don't see anything weird…"

"There might be things inside… what did happen to him?"

"I'm not sure. He was yelling a lot, though…"

"Alright… watch my back!" he kicked open the door and rolled into the lab, hands lit up with light. Noct slammed into his side with his own hands glowing, while Willow was against his other side and lighting her hands up with fire. Anthony stood at their back and raised his gun over their heads, a '_whiiirrrr'_ing sound signaling the charging of his cannon. When they found that the lab was empty, all of them lowered their arms and gun disappointed. "Well, that was an epic entrance wasted."

"At least we know it looked cool," Willow giggled.

"It wasn't about looking cool, it was about having the advantage on any enemies that may have been in here."

"But it did look cool," he pointed out.

Anthony just rolled his eyes in response.

He walked forward and looked around, the only things out of the ordinary being the tools scattered on the ground near a table. He bent down and examined them while everyone else walked around, but couldn't find any clues to what had happened.

"Oh shit!" He turned and saw Anthony jump back, scrambling behind Noct. "Mouse!" Said mouse skittered around the room, before coming to a stop and wiggling its nose at him.

(Sapphire!)

"Uh… wait, you're Apple Kid's mouse! I really need to learn his name…"

(You have to help! Apple Kid was kidnapped!)

"He was kidnapped?" Willow kneeled down and tilted her head.

(Yes, some monsters and machines came in here and grabbed him before running!)

"Noct-San, search outside, it was maybe a minute ago since I got that call, so whatever tracks they left would be fresh."

"Hai, Master."

"Mouse, what did they look like?"

(Just like I said, a bunch of monsters and machines! Though, the machines did wear some wool-like substance… anyway, they grabbed him after he had put the finishing touches on that Pencil Eraser-Eraser!)

"Pencil what and what?"

"Yeah, don't ask." He shook his head. "Well, thanks for the info, Mouse."

(Please save him! Oh, and take the eraser! It could be useful!) The mouse pointed towards a machine on the table, which looked identical to the Pencil Eraser, but instead of being silver it was gold.

"Right. We'll save him, don't worry!" He grabbed the remote and exited the lab with Anthony and Willow at his back, to find Noct waiting outside. Noct-San waiting outside. "Noct-San, any idea where they went?"

"Hai. Their trail leads to the circle of stones some ways to the north."

"Stonehenge? That's odd."

Sapphire just shrugged at Anthony's words. "Whatever. Let's get going, then."

* * *

A short journey to the north later and the Chosen Four found themselves at the famous stone circle. They hid behind one of the pillars and watched as several robots that looked to be covered in an odd fur emerged from an accessway in the center of the circle. "Why would you give robots fur?" Anthony muttered.

He shrugged in response, grabbing his bat. There were only three, so he wouldn't waste PSI on any Hope attacks. "I'm going in. Noct-San, you'll be at my side. Wils, Ant, watch our backs."

"Master." He sprinted forward when their backs were turned and managed to bash one in the side before any of them could react. Another whirred and attempted to fire some kind of beam out of one of its two eyepieces, but Noct interrupted it by slamming a PSI enhanced strike to its center of mass, buckling the metal inwards and sending the beam careening into the distance.

The third wooly shambler attempted to fire its own laser, but he grabbed the robot he'd attacked and shoved it in the way, causing the laser to sear through its fur and metal easily. He kicked it forward, causing it to whirr and attempt to keep upright, before slamming into the other robot. "Ant!"

Anthony's cannon blasted its laser through both robots, leaving a searing, melting hole two feet in diameter. They both fell to the ground with a clunk, and the third fell to the ground, its entire top-half missing, and the bottom half a melting mess as Willow and Noct stood behind it with flames rising from their hands. "Nice!" The girl cheered.

"Yeah, great job everyone! Alright, now let's get down into that base!" He walked towards the hole where the robots had emerged from and kicked aside some snow to reveal plain dirt. "Uh, how do we get in?"

"Blow it up!" Willow cheered.

"Don't do that," Anthony sighed.

"It could work," Noct shrugged. "There's a hole somewhere here after all."

"Stand back and watch a master at work, then." He cracked his neck and hopped in place as he shook out his hands, pulsing energy through them. He felt a rush and grinned. Not being able to do this that whole journey through Deep Darkness was torturous. "Hope α!" Energy shot out and blew away the dirt and snow, cratering the ground inwards. At the bottom of said crater was a hole, with a melted ladder poking out.

"Barbarians," Anthony scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Nerd," he and Willow shot back at the same time.

"What is a nerd?"

"But anyway!" Anthony cut off their replies, glaring.

He snickered, before climbing down the crater and grabbing the ladder. The metal was hot to the touch, but it wasn't scalding. Already, the Winters air was cooling it. He slid down the ladder, grunting as he hit the stone floor at the bottom of the hole. He moved away so the shenanigans of the pyramid wouldn't repeat, and looked around. They were in a stone hallway, similar to the ones they found underneath Threed that had led them to Grapefruit Falls. The stone seemed to almost flow with an internal light, a deep violet color that reminded him of the Deep Darkness' poison. The place had a dim, oppressive nature. He shivered as a chill went down his spine, and he knew it wasn't from the cold air.

He heard three thumps and turned to see Willow, Anthony, and Noct looking around as well. They all noticed the feeling of breathing down their necks, even Anthony. "This place feels… wrong," the blond boy muttered.

"Dark energy is flowing through this place," Noct whispered, before muttering some kind of chant to himself.

"Yeah, lovely isn't it? Real home-y," He sighed, shaking his head. "If even Ant can feel it, then there must be some dangerous things down here. Come on, we have to rescue Apple Kid."

They made their way down the dark hall, and he unconsciously clenched and unclenched his hands around his bat. The leather handle creaked in protest, and he quickly stopped. Not even Deep Darkness had given him a feeling of constant pain and shot his nerves to hell and back, but here he felt like he was constantly being watched by some malevolent force, and he was in constant danger.

_Careful… _

It didn't help that the Hawk-Eye was now whispering into his ear. "_Yeah, I know," _he thought back, "_we're literally inside an enemy base."_

_Powerful foes await us. Be cautious._

He rolled his eyes but trusted its words. It was now his Danger Sense after all, but apparently a much better version. "Everyone, be on guard, there are powerful enemies ahead." Nobody answered, but he knew they all were more on guard now, ready for anything.

The first thing they came upon was… a metal eraser. Sapphire stared at it in disbelief, feeling a migraine come on from the absurdity. Did the aliens really protect the entrance of their base with a single metal eraser? He grabbed the pencil eraser-eraser and repeated what he had done to the pencil a statue all those days ago, rubbing the remote like device against it until it vanished.

They continued until they heard a slithering noise. They stilled, waiting to see if it was coming closer. As the sound got louder, Noct crept ahead and peeled around a corner. He watched for a moment, before turning to them, whispering. "A green alien standing on several tentacles, one eye above a mouth, two on antennae."

"Sapphire fought one of those before," Anthony whispered, "back when Willow was kidnapped in Fourside. It wasn't green though."

"What did it do?"

"Nothing, both times it attacked it was physically grappling us, and then Nightmare beat the crap out of it."

"Alright, well, let's just wait to ambush it." They hunkered down and listened, and just when a green tentacle reached around a corner, Noct leaped forward and slammed a flaming hand into it, ripping the tentacle from its body. It screeched and tried to scramble back, just twisting out of the way as Anthony's cannon blasted another of its tentacles off.

It suddenly blasted a wave of fire from one of its tentacles, and Sapphire jumped forward, spreading his arms and taking the brunt of the attack. He grit his teeth as he felt the flames scorch him, but his PSI enhanced body took the damage much better than any of the rest of them could have. It raised another tentacle and prepared an icy blast of Freeze, but Willow stopped it short by blasting it with a Fireball and evaporating the ice, before burning a hole through the creature.

The thing fell onto its back and screeched at them, and its eyes began to flash.

_Danger, avert your gaze._

"Look away!" They all followed his orders, and he felt a wave of… something wash over him. But it didn't affect any of them, and he quickly turned back and lifted his bat, slamming it down. Green blood spurted out, and the creature went still, after spasming for a moment of course.

"What was that?"

"It was… like that plant back at Grapefruit Falls. The one that turned me to stone."

"Turned you to stone?" Noct frowned. "That's an incredibly dangerous PSI ability. Those who've managed to learn it in Dalaam are kept under strict watch."

"What do you mean? Well, turning to stone is pretty bad, but I'd say burning alive or freezing to death is pretty bad too… what's so bad about… what's the power called?"

"PSI Earth. The Omega version is what allows you to diamondize others. But the lower tiers are more akin to controlling the earth and rock around the user, animating it into golems and such."

"Geokinesis then? That sounds useful."

"Yes, but as I've said, those who have the ability are kept under watch. While it's as you say, any PSI can be used to kill, Earth… being turned to stone does not kill you. It keeps you alive." Noct shook his head, "Not even being broken into pieces can kill you once you've been fully diamondized, you are conscious of everything, but can do and say nothing, trapped within a stone prison for eternity. 'I have no mouth and I must scream.' Only the most powerful version of Healing can cure people turned to stone, and it's very rare that someone is born that can eventually learn that level of Healing. The last time someone was turned to stone was several centuries ago. They were trapped until five decades ago when someone was finally capable of the level of Healing to free them. They had gone insane, and it was through careful therapy that they were finally deemed ready to rejoin Dalaam's society. They are still watched, those that haven't now died from old age that is."

Sapphire blinked, thinking back to the time he'd nearly been turned to stone. If they hadn't been near a Sanctuary, he could have been trapped, forever… Anthony could eventually think of something, he was sure, but… "Jesus…"

"PSI is powerful, and dangerous, no matter what kind. Those that learn it are given special training and live within the palace. If someone with PSI were to turn from the proper path… well, I'm sure you remember the electrifying men from the Pink Cloud. Imagine them, but as actual people that could learn and control their power and weren't simply consumed by their electricity. They could, and _would_, become a massive threat."

"I'm not denying that," he muttered, shaking his head.

"To think such a fate could…" Anthony shook his head, and Willow swallowed hard, hands shaking. She kept glancing at him, and he quickly realized she was thinking about the same thing he'd been, how he had nearly faced that fate. He quickly grabbed her hand and smiled to comfort her, ignoring the weird rise in his heart rate as he did so. It was probably just embarrassment.

Noct stared at nothing, before turning his gaze to him. "Mast— Sapphire-San. After we rescue your comrade, I implore that we break from our journey to find the Sanctuaries and go to Dalaam. I realize now that I have not fulfilled one of my duties, teaching you of PSI."

"Uh… well, we don't know when the invasion will kick off fully. Right now these are just robots and aliens sent ahead, plus influenced people and animals. We don't know if Giygas will appear tomorrow or in a year. Can we really take time off, especially with only two Sanctuaries left?"

"It should be fine. Besides, the stronger your PSI, and the better you understand it, the more ready we shall be for Giygas."

"What do you two think?"

"I suppose it sounds reasonable… you have to learn more about your abilities at _some_ point."

"I agree also. I don't want anyone getting hurt because I… I couldn't…" He squeezed her hand, and she smiled up at him. "Thanks."

"Alright, let's keep going then. After, we'll head back to Dalaam." Noct nodded and they got up, continuing down the stone hallway. It twisted and turned several times over the next few minutes until it reached a wider room with two pathways, one heading to their right and the other to their left. "Right or left?"

Anthony looked them both over, holding his chin. "I believe that we should try both since then we have a fifty/fifty chance of

_Anthony is in danger._

taking the correct pa—" He cut the blond off, tackling him out of the way as a beam of energy cut through the air where he had stood. "Oh crap!"

Sapphire spun and his eyes snapped to what had attacked them. He felt some amount of blood drain from his face before he steeled himself and grabbed his bat. Standing in the center of the room, glaring at them was a familiar silver form. Metal armor, tentacles on hips, and glaring at them from behind a glass visor, the Starman looked just as intimidating as he had been on the first day of his journey. He was stronger now, but he still clearly remembered how his bones cracked with every attack the creature had thrown at him, and the massive, powerful attacks it had tossed at him.

Of course, it could have simply been that PSI seemed so fantastical, and hell, he was pretty sure Willow could match its PSI feats, but there was still some niggling doubt. "Halt, intruders." Oh look, its voice was the same too. It stepped forward, powering up a laser. "Begone from our base, or I shall force you to leave."

"The thing has metal armor, could be robotic… I suggest Pyro and Electrokinesis."

"It's a Starman," Sapphire spoke up. "Apparently one of Giygas' elite troops. I fought a junior the day that meteor fell. They have Fire, Freeze, and hit like a truck, so Willow and Anthony stay back. Noct, we need to break through its armor, so that our PSI can get inside."

"If you will not leave, I shall force you." The Starman lifted one of its tentacle arms, the tip glowing blue.

"That's a Freeze!" They all jumped aside as a wave of cold shot past them, causing icicles to shoot up out of the ground. He scrambled up and gripped his bat, before charging the Starman. It reared back and attempted to smack him away, but he clumsily ducked underneath and jumped up, slamming his bat into its side. It grunted and fell back a step, a small, almost unnoticeable crack having formed in its armor.

He grinned to himself, realizing it showed how far he'd gotten since that first night, before jumping back as the Starman attempted to whip him a second time. It skid back as Anthony and Willow blasted it with their cannon and a Flamethrower γ, which didn't pierce its armor but did cause it to hiss in anger. It blasted back at them with a wide wall of Fire, causing Willow and Anthony to scramble apart so that they could avoid the danger.

Noct was suddenly there, slamming his fist into the creature's stomach, where he'd attacked with his bat. The crack grew more visible, and as the Starman attempted to retaliate Noct grabbed its tentacle and pulled it forward, causing it to stumble, before he slammed a palm down on its shoulder. The armor there cracked, but before either he or Noct attempted to attack, it vanished with a flare of light.

"What the hell?" He looked around in confusion, trying to spot the Starman before

_Danger, down._

ducking as a beam flew over his head. "Shit!" He turned and spotted the Starman now across the room from them, firing another beam from its faceplate. "How the hell did it get over there so fast?"

"It looked like it teleported to me," Anthony shouted, "but it didn't take a running start as you do!"

The Starman prepared another wall of Fire, which Willow countered with Freeze, putting it out. "Then it was not Teleport, Teleport requires a running start," Noct shook his head.

"I've seen a guy named Talah Rama teleport without running."

"But-" They were interrupted as the Starman fired several beams of energy, forcing them apart.

"Worry about that later!" Sapphire overbalanced and almost fell over as he dodged one beam, Running forward to bash it. Before he could there was another flash of light, and suddenly the alien was on the opposite side of the room. "Shit!"

"Resistance is futile," the Starman spoke, shooting a Freeze towards Anthony. The boy ducked to the side and fired his cannon, but once again the Starman disappeared from the path of the beam.

"Anthony, the PSI-Cancellation unit thing!"

Anthony's eyes lit up, and he grabbed said machine from his bag, firing it up. A wave of light shot out, stripping the Starman of its PSI. "Now, destroy it!"

He ran up to it and watched as it attempted to teleport away with a sputter of light, which died out quickly. He wound up and _smashed _his bat against the metallic enemy, finally breaching the Starman's armor and causing the black liquid that had leaked from the first Starman Junior he'd fought to leak from its stomach as it bent over. Noct capitalized on the weakness and jumped onto his shoulders and slammed a fist into the Starman's visor, cracking it heavily.

It stumbled back, and he and Noct jumped aside as Anthony blasted it and Willow shocked it with Thunder. It stood for a moment more, before falling back into a puddle of its own goo. They watched it, ready for if it was just playing dead. When it didn't move, Sapphire walked up and nudged it with his foot. "Damn. That was tough."

"Not really," Anthony snorted. The main problem was pinning it down long enough to hit it."

"Yeah, we did awesomely!"

"Definitely. Back on my first day, I got my ass handed to me fighting a Junior. I've all gotten stronger. _We've _gotten stronger."

"Speak for yourself, I've just been upgrading my arsenal this whole time," Anthony snarked.

"Come on, let's keep going," he laughed in response.

* * *

They continued through the base, following twisting stone paths and blasting their way through various aliens. The remaining Starmen that they fought their way through weren't as annoying, as Anthony would immediately hit them with the Counter-PSI device and prevent them from teleporting away. Eventually, one of the halls led out onto a metal walkway, overlooking a massive metallic base, similar to Belch's.

Pipes jutted out of walls and snakes along the ceiling, and down below various robots whirred and beeped as they made their way through the base. "Oh, that's a lotta robits…"

"Can you please not massacre the English language so casually, Willow?"

"Well, she's right, in any case. That's a hell of a lot of robots… I'd rather no fight all of them, even with all of my PSI regenerated."

"Indeed. We shouldn't waste our PSI in unnecessary fights, and instead, try to make our way through the base wasting as little energy as possible." They made their way along the metal walkway, keeping an eye on the robots below so that they weren't snuck up on and taken by surprise. A loud whirring from ahead announced the arrival of a new foe, and from around the corner came a spherical robot, moving on small legs with two arms with claws on the ends whipping through the air around it, seemingly randomly.

It turned and spotted them, causing the whipping arms to increase in ferocity as it charged them. "Look out!" They all separated as the machine barrelled through their group, trying to whip at them with its arms. "Watch out for the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man's arms!"

"We are _not _calling it that!" Anthony shouted, blasting away at the robot. The cannon did some damage, but only in the form of denting the machine's armor, not breaking or piercing it. The machine fired two beams at Anthony, and he quickly jumped in the way to shield him from the attack. He felt the beams cut into his skin, though his heightened resistance meant they didn't do as much damage as they would have done to Anthony.

"Freeze γ!" Willow launched a stream of PSI at the robot, causing its limbs to ice over, and its joints to creak. It tried to take a step, but its leg snapped and it fell forward with a loud crash. He and Noct leaped forward and began beating it down, its frozen armor shattering easily under their bat and fists. It suddenly rotated and smacked them both away with one of its arms, the ice melting off of it.

Its armor was cracked and falling off in places, but it kept moving and prepared another beam attack. Noct dodged the blast by doing a backflip, before forming a ball of ice in his hand and crushing it, rearing back and throwing shards of ice through the machine's cracked armor, and into its sensitive circuits. Several crunching noises interrupted its whirrs, and eventually, it stopped moving altogether. "Hey, nice moves, Noct! Real smart of ya!"

"Thank you, Master. But I simply copied Willow-San when I realized that it was weak to Freeze."

"Either way-" he was cut off when the machine began smoking and glowing. "Uh oh."

_Back up._

"Get back!" They all retreated as the machine suddenly exploded, sending shrapnel and heat flying. "Shield!" The metal bounced off of his skin, only one or two piercing him and drawing blood. When nothing else hit him, he lowered his arms and cast a Lifeup ɑ, closing up his small wounds. "Why the hell do these things have to explode?"

"Probably a last-ditch effort to kill us," Anthony shook his head and knelt down next to the smoking robot. "LIke a self-destruct sequence." He rooted around inside of the machine, pulling out some technology. "This thing is pretty advanced. I mean, obviously it would be, but… Still."

He let Anthony root around inside it, turning to Willow and Noct. "Either of you injured?"

"I am in perfect health, Master."

"I'm fine!"

"Is this an atomic power source? How was it constructed to be so small?" He rolled his eyes and pat Anthony on the shoulder to snap him out of his scientific muttering.

"C'mon, let's get going."

"Ah, right. Let's go." They continued along the walkway, but it simply led to a dead end over a massive dark pit with seemingly no bottom with, for some reason, a broken harmonica on a pedestal at the end. "Well, that's certainly peculiar."

"What would aliens even need a harmonica for?"

"Maybe they like the sounds it makes!"

"Willow, it's broken, it can't even make sounds."

"Aw…"

"I might as well take it. We could sell it for something, I suppose." Anthony stuck it in his bag, and they began backtracking to find another way through the base. They eventually found a ladder leading downwards onto another walkway that wasn't infested with robots and Starmen, but it still had quite a few enemies.

Sapphire ducked underneath a beam from the Atomic Robot, before running up and smashing it aside, tossing it down into the dark pit below them. "Aw, a foul ball!"

"Focus!" Anthony barked, launching a rocket at another Starman. It went down hard, bleeding the black ooze as its chest was completely caved in.

"Cmon, these things are super easy though!" Willow laughed and twirled her frying pan, nodding.

"Still, we shouldn't let our guard down. We don't

_Danger, save him._

know if any more are- ack!" He cut Anthony off, tackling him out of the way of a roaring fire. They got up and turned, watching as another Starman calmly lowered its glowing arm. This one was different, however. Its armor was a bright gold color, polished to perfection and gleaming even with the low amount of light within the base. It had a similar insignia on its left breast as the other Starmen did, although slightly different, possibly to indicate a higher rank.

"Intruders have been located. Preparing requests for reinforcements."

"That's not good," He spoke blandly.

"No, really? We have to destroy it, quickly!" Anthony grabbed his Counter-PSI device, but the Starman teleported closer and snatched it, before teleporting away. "Oh god damn it."

"Get him!" He charged the Starman, attempting to bash it aside, but it quickly teleported away with a flash of light. "Sunova—!"

It blasted a massive wall of fire at them, much stronger than any of the other Starmen they fought, and Willow attempted to put it out with Freeze but failed. "PSI Shield α!" Seeing it do nothing, she threw a PSI shield over Sapphire, letting him tank the fire for all of them.

He hissed as the fire burnt his skin, but he powered through and used the stream of fire to charge at the Starman without it knowing. When the fire died down, the Starman looked surprised that he'd gotten so close to it by using its fire to cover him, and he managed to get a solid hit in before it could teleport away. the golden armor around its stomach area dented inward and cracked, before with a flash of light it was gone.

"Shit!"

"Well, at least we got one hit in," Willow cheered.

"But Sapphire will become worn out if he keeps taking hits like that just to get close," Anthony murmured.

Sapphire grimaced and rolled his shoulders, feeling his skin sting before steadying his stance as the Starman prepared another wave of PSI. He needed to be able to keep up with it, but he couldn't exactly run faster than something could teleport, even with years of baseball practice. Or maybe…? He narrowed his eyes and poured PSI into his legs, and charged, starting a Teleport.

As he got closer he got faster, but the Starman still managed to teleport away. He slammed into a metal wall, and the PSI he'd built up exploded and threw him back. "Damn it!" He got up and flooded his legs with more PSI, charging at the Starman again.

"Now, while Master is distracting it!" The Starman had been watching him approach, ready to teleport away, and wasn't ready for two Thunder's and a beam to blast it into a wall. It slumped, holding a tentacle to its helmet in what had to be disorientation as its armor cracked further before he was upon it. Unfortunately, it recovered just in time to notice him and teleport away, and that's when things got _weird._

He felt something similar to PSI wash over him before the world around him fizzled. It was impossible to describe, but it felt like his body was simultaneously existing everywhere and nowhere at the exact same time, or at least, so little time passed between that it was impossible to discern. A sharp pain suddenly began stabbing through every inch of him, and he grit his teeth, accidentally drawing blood as he bit his tongue. He had no idea what was happening, but it was like his entire body was pulling itself apart at the atomic level.

He tried to pump a Lifeup through his body, but that only halted the pain for a split second before it started up again. At this rate, his body would tear itself apart from whatever the hell was happening! As a last-ditch effort, he poured all of his raw PSI through his entire body, not trying to halt the pain but focus it and see if he could use it. It slowed but didn't stop. Now it was… it was almost vibrating, anxious to move and needing direction and purpose. He opened his eyes and saw the world was dark around him, with nobody moving.

He couldn't focus on that though, and instead focused on how to use the now semi-agreeable energy. He pushed, and suddenly he was across the room, gasping for breath as his body finally stopped trying to destroy itself. He fell to his hands and knees and heard shouting and then someone running over. Hands ran over him before he was turned over to see Anthony above him. "Sapphire, are you alright?"

Anthony was above him, checking him for injuries. His pulse, breathing, wounds. "I'm… fine?" He wasn't sure himself. Nothing seemed wrong physically, but there was an innate wrongness in the air around him. "I think… what happened?"

"I'm not quite sure. You grabbed the Starman, then all of a sudden you were here, and it was over there." He nodded to where the Starman stood, firing beams of light at a dodging Noct and Willow. "Can you tell me…?"

"No… I don't…" he held his head, the pounding growing worse. "I…"

…SI a…p…

Something new… something he instinctively knew was never seen before

P…I… W…r…

It was something all his own, a Gift like PSI Hope

PSI… Warp

His eyes flashed, and suddenly he was behind the Starman. It didn't notice him, and he was able to rear back and _smash _it across the room. It let out a startled grunt, slamming into the far wall as its armor shattered and black ooze leaked from it. "What the…?" He saw Anthony blink, while Willow cheered and Noct tilted his head in confusion.

He stumbled, holding his head as a wave of nausea rolled over him. It wasn't as bad as when the situation in Dungeon Man or Deep Darkness, it was just a moment of vertigo after having teleported in such a way. "W-Whoa… oh Jeez…"

Noct helped him up, "Master, are you alright?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm good… Noct, have you ever seen anything like that?"

"Unfortunately not, Master. Teleportation requires a buildup of speed, except for those exceptionally gifted in it, so I'm not quite sure what that was. You obviously are not gifted enough with Teleportation to do that…"

The Starman finally got up and looked at him, not caring for its shattered armor. "How did you accomplish that?"

"What? Don't ask me, I thought that was you!"

"No." It tilted its head, uncaring for his anger. Or really anything around it. "I will have to capture you and have our leader dissect you. Your PSI is unique."

"If you want to hurt him you'll have to go through us!" Willow stepped forward and glared, body glowing red as she used Offense Up. Anthony nodded and stood next to her, lifting up his cannon as it glowed with energy.

The Starman looked at them with contempt, before its arms flared up light blue and bright red as it prepared both a Fire and Freeze. "Then perish." Twin blasts fired from it, a roaring wave of flames rushing towards Willow and an icy cold rush of wind towards Anthony.

"No!" He held out his hand before his entire body felt like it was pulling itself apart again, and he was suddenly in front of them. He stumbled, looking at the oncoming blasts with wide eyes, before crossing his arms and bearing the attack. After several seconds of feeling like the left side of his body was melting off and the right side was turning into ice.

The moment the Starman let up, he focused all of his energy and _pushed, _and suddenly he was behind the Starman. It immediately attempted to teleport away, but he slammed his bat into it and staggered it, letting Willow and Anthony blast it. It stumbled back, and Noct jumped forward to jab both hands through its armor and into its stomach, before unleashing a Thunder inside the Starman, causing it to let out a quick scream of pain as it spasmed and died.

The sound of more Starmen approaching drew their attention, and Noct quickly grabbed him and threw him on his back, before throwing the Counter-PSI Device to Anthony. "Come, we must get to safety. We cannot handle any more of those Starmen at this time."

"I can walk on my own," He bit out, feeling his atoms screech at each other as they tried to separate each other across the damn universe.

"Ahahaha! Let's go to a comedy club, people will love your jokes!" Anthony glared at him after wrenching some technology and the helmet from the fallen Starman and standing up. "Keep a hold on him, Noct-San, and let's go." He groaned as they began running, and the sound of Starmen teleporting to where they'd battled against the golden Starman. He squeezed his eyes shut as he began feeling a sense of nausea again and decided to just let Noct carry him to wherever they were going.

* * *

They continued for several minutes, though he couldn't measure exactly how long before he was set down. He opened his eyes to see they were in a small metal room, with Willow using Flamethrower γ to melt the door closed. Anthony and Noct were kneeling over him, Noct using Lifeup with one hand and Healing with the other, while Anthony was looking through some of the tech he'd ripped from the Starman. "Noct-San, what's wrong with him?"

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong… Healing is not doing anything, nor is Lifeup, besides the burns and frostbite of course."

"Why do I feel like shit then?" he groaned.

"If we can't find out through PSI, then we'll use science," Anthony soothed, ripping some wires from some machinery and plugging it into another machine. "What exactly do you feel?"

"Ugh… my body's trying to tear itself apart? Like, every second my cells or whatever are trying to be everywhere at once, and then they're trying to squish together, and repeat… Oh, I also feel like those times where you're sitting on a toilet for several hours rocking back and forth."

"Too much information," Anthony cut in. He plugged in several of the machines into the Starman's helmet, before slipping it on and shivering as black ooze dripped down around his neck. "Uh… okay… alien technology, I can work with this…"

"Anthony-Sensei?"

"I've got this, I've got this." Anthony reached around until he gripped one of the machines, and began pushing buttons. "I'm trying to see what exactly the Starman do when they do that odd teleportation to see if anything in their databanks can help."

He grunted as his entire body squirmed before Willow grasped his hand and smiled at him. He grinned back, wincing and squeezing her hand, while Noct looked between them before brightening. "Oh! I did not realize you were courting each other, Master."

There was a single beat where he and Willow stared at each other before he burst into embarrassed stammers. "A-ah, n-no, we aren't, that is, we're not- we aren't dating! Courting! Whatever!"

"Ah, you are not? My apologies." He nodded, before turning to Willow who was also blushing. "I am already being pressured to look for a spouse as the prince, as we are to be wed on my eighteenth."

"Uh, isn't that in like three years?"

"Yes, but as there is no current king nor queen, my citizens expect much from me."

"Wait, why isn't there a king or queen?" Noct looked uncomfortable for a moment, and he quickly realized why. "O-oh, uh, I probably should have guessed, huh?"

"You did not know, it is alright. Even though I am not of age, my advisor and Sensei has aided me in leading my kingdom. While I am gone, he is taking care of my kingdom so I can aid you all."

"Heh, thanks for that." He winced again, his body wavering. Willow quickly grasped his hand again, even though she was still blushing.

"Careful," Anthony smirked, even as he continued combing through the Starman databases. "Or there might be a new Mr. Polestar."

"I'll kill you," he threatened, "I'll kill you dead."

"I-I mean, wouldn't I take his last name?" He looked at her with disbelief while Anthony began laughing.

"Ah, I can just imagine it now, can't you?"

"Shut it, blondie!"

"What about you, Willow? Can you imagine yourself as…" Anthony blinked. "Hey, what's your last name?"

He grumbled and turned away. "I am not telling you my last name, you'll just use it for more marriage jokes."

"Oh please, I'll make them anyway… Oh, that's interesting… oh yeah, uh, you know our last names, mine, Willow's, No- wait, we don't even know your last name!"

Noct blinked. "It is Noct Amiyari."

"There, now three of us have last names except for you."

"I'm not supposed to have a last name, I'm the protagonist!"

"I'll smack you, don't tempt me!" Anthony raised a hand and waved it threateningly.

"Ugh. Fine, it's Starr. Two r's." He held back a wince to smirk and flash a peace sign. "Sapphire Starr."

"Alright, don't be getting a big head," Anthony scoffed. "Like I just said, you aren't some movie protagonist."

"I beg to differ good sir."

"Then you're an idiot," he snarked back.

He winced and clenched his hand around Willow's, and she turned to Anthony with a frown. "Anthony, have you found anything?"

"Well… I believe so, but I'm no expert on PSI. In summation, the Starmen have some sort of systems within their armor that lets them transform the unique energy of 'Teleport' into a more instantaneous short-ranged version."

"What?"

Anthony hummed and rubbed his chin at Willow's words. "Let's see… while your 'Teleport' requires you to build up speed over time except for masters and those who are exceptionally skilled, with the same large burst of energy to traverse extremely large distances, like between continents or smaller ones such as between cities, their armor allows them to somehow instead use short-ranged teleports, with no energy usage at all, instantly. As in, there aren't even yoctoseconds. Perhaps it's even faster than Planck Time…"

"Well, I don't get that last part, but I think I get everything else…"

"Using technology to pervert the sacred abilities of PSI…" Noct murmured to himself with a dark look, before shaking his head. "In any case, why exactly is this harming Starr-San, Andonuts-Sensei?"

"I don't know… I'm willing to bet that it has to do with the fact that you're bending the fabric of Space-Time when you use Teleport, so perhaps by using this alternative, unnatural form, your atoms are attempting to compensate by being everywhere at once?"

They all looked at Anthony with various levels of incredulity. "…that makes no sense."

"Listen, it's not like I know!" The blond sighed and rubbed his face, removing the visor and wiping the black ooze from his head. "In any case, I did a scan and it seems like your atoms are in a now constant state of excitement, ready for this new method of teleporting at any moment. It doesn't seem harmful, and it should weaken soon, before vanishing completely. I'm willing to bet it's simply your body forcing itself to get used to that weird teleport."

"Warp. It's called Warp."

"There you go then, we already have a name for it."

"Perhaps you should attempt to use it a few times, become used to it."

"Yeah, lemme try that." He slowly got up, wobbling a moment as he let go of Willow's hand, before focusing. The world around him was drowned out by utter silence, and he glared at a spot across the metal room, _willing _himself there. "Warp!" He was suddenly there and turned around excited. "Whoa! Holy crap!"

"That was awesome!"

"Yeah! I couldn't even feel a drain on my PSI! Just like you said, Ant!"

"Hm… interesting indeed…" they grinned at each other. "I'm sure this will be a valuable ability in future battles."

"Are you kidding instant transmission is so cool!" Willow jumped up and down.

"Hell yeah! I feel like I can take on anything!" A smaller wave of nausea hit him, and he shook his head. "Or almost anything, I guess."

"You'll have plenty of time to test it out soon," Anthony reminded him, placing several tools and machines in his bag. "We still have to fight our way through the rest of this base, if you'll recall."

"Yeah." He nodded at the welded shut door. "Alright, let's get out of here and save those people!"

* * *

The rest of the infiltration through the alien base went much, much smoother. With Sapphire's new Warp ability and Anthony managing to keep his Counter-PSI device out of the hands of any more Golden Starmen, they were no longer overwhelmed as they had been earlier.

Even learning that the atomic-powered robots could somehow heal the other machines and aliens in the base by sticking a tube filled with oil into them didn't slow them down, as they simply used brute force to overwhelm it, and then use Sapphire as a shield when it self-destructed.

This continued for another hour as they got deeper and deeper into the base until he held up a hand as his danger sense spoke.

_Danger, a powerful foe awaits… _

"Something dangerous is up ahead."

"Got it." A metal door blocked their path, and he nodded to Noct, who nodded back before landing a powerful kick on the door, bursting it inwards. They walked in, expecting some enemies, and were greeted with a wholly different sight. Dozens and dozens of tubes were lined up side by side, each filled with a green liquid and reaching from the floor to the ceiling. And every single one had a human in it, some having multiple, each of them floating lifelessly.

"Jesus!" He ran up to one and looked it over in a panic. "How do we get them out?!"

"Wait!" Anthony shook his head and tapped on a console next to a tube. "It looks like they're all in some form of stasis, they aren't dead!"

That alleviated his worry somewhat, but people were still trapped. "So why shouldn't we get them out?!"

"Because I'm not sure how to without hurting them! Look, we should find the leader and defeat them, and then force them to release everyone. I don't want to accidentally kill all of these people while trying to save them."

Sapphire sighed. "well, I guess you have a point…"

"Uh… well, I found Apple Kid…" they walked over to where Willow was standing, and saw the boy in a tube, with Doctor Andonuts in another directly next to him.

"Father…" Anthony placed his hand on the tube, looking at him with a mixture of sadness and rage at the aliens. He would admit, he was happy that Anthony and Andonuts had fixed their relationship a bit, but they needed to move.

"Come on, let's go save him." Anthony stood there, staring, before turning and nodding at him with clear determination shining through his eyes.

"Let's." They made their way down the forest of tubes until they reached another metal door. Anthony blasted this one in, and they walked through the smoldering hole to see a single Starman standing in front of a large orb. It turned its dark visor to them, tentacle arms resting calmly on its hips. It looked extremely similar to the regular silver Starmen, however, it had several spikes on its shoulder armor and head, shaped similarly to a crown. The emblem on its breast was fancier, as well.

"Well, well…" it tilted its head, and several whirring and beeping noises sounded out, signaling the fact that it might have had much more machinery within its armor than the other Starmen. "You're much stronger than our intelligence indicated. We were not prepared for that eventuality…"

"What, you've been spying on us? Real nice of you, pal."

It ignored him, lifting an arm to its chin and seemingly talking more to itself than them. "The prophecy from the Apple of Enlightenment May turn out to be true… ok the other tentacle, you must not underestimate us!"

He narrowed his eyes as PSI energy flowed around the Starman. "Oh, we won't underestimate you, because we won't be holding back! We'll get revenge for all of those people you've kidnapped!"

"That was necessary," the Starman chuckled, "to find PSI sensitives among the populace, and uplift them to our cause."

"You are kidnapping people, testing if they can use PSI, then fixing them to work for Giygas? You dare pervert the sacred nature of PSI in such a way?!" Noct narrowed his eyes as similar energy flowed around him, and the Starman turned its gaze to him.

"The Chosen King… you would be a powerful asset, had you not already joined the Chosen Four. At the very least, we have several of your citizens and relics for our use."

"What?!" Noct's eyes burned with a wave of rare anger, and they all took a step back. The Starman, on the other hand, simply chuckled and held a tentacle out. A moment later, a sword appeared from nowhere and was grasped by the alien robot. Noct's eyes widened, before he grit his teeth. "The Sword of Kings…"

The sword was a katana, approximately three feet in length, with a black handle, golden cross-guard and brown leather wrapping on said handle. The blade was the most elegant part, Burning a bright gold color, with what looked to be hundreds or perhaps thousands of different etchings carved into the blade itself, each one glowing a dull white. The Starman chuckled and swung the blade, even as its tentacle started smoking.

"The Sword of Kings," it mused, "'only to be wielded by the Chosen King. Any other who attempts to use the blade in battle shalt be smote by the creator gods.' Is that not how your legends go? It seems to be true of course, every other member of Lord Giygas' army was killed while trying to wield this. I, however, was built for the sole purpose of using this blade to strike you down. I believe you call this 'irony.'"

"I shall cleanse the earth of your foul and putrid presence for daring to touch our holy relic!"

"Very well. Come at me. You may entertain me, for a short while." It readied the blade as he and Noct bound forward, Willow and Anthony stepping back to support, the battle with the Starman Deluxe beginning.

* * *

**And that's that. Wow, mega chapter today. about four-thousand more words than usual, totally by accident since I wanted to end before the boss battle, but didn't want to rush anything. **

**I love coming up with lore and stuff for fantasy religions, which is a big part of something I want to write someday, and is why a big part of the beginning of the chapter has to do with discussing the Scarabians, alongside the standard bonding the Chosen Four are going through.**

**The few test tubes we see at the end of the Stonehenge Base seemed like way too few, which is why I upped the ante. Oh, and I gave the Sword of Kings to Starman Deluxe. A random drop from Super Starmen seems like a bit of bull, so I'm having it be included instead in the boss fight. **

**We see Starmen teleporting around without a running start, which is obviously just a game mechanic, but when novelized could make for some interesting ideas. And so, Warp. One of the first new abilities gained, besides variations like Willow's Fireball and Flamethrower. **

**Anyway, if you liked the chapter leave a review on everything that you liked, or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.**

**See y'all next time!**


	27. Chapter 27: A Battle of Kings

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Battle of Kings

The battle roared to life with the Starman swinging its tentacle to send forward bright red flames gushing out of its tentacle, causing both himself and Noct to throw themselves apart so they wouldn't be consumed by the fire. Even when they weren't directly hit, the heat burnt his skin and caused sweat to run down his face. The fire died down, and Willow was suddenly there, sending a wave of icicles up out of the ground to impale the machine.

The Starman simply waved the Sword of Kings, shearing all of the icicles in two before they could reach him. The blade cleaved through the incredibly tough ice as though the ice wasn't even there, gliding through like it was simply paper. Noct was suddenly there, slamming his fists into the Starman's stomach. It didn't even react, instead swinging the stolen blade down at him. Noct leaned back, ducking under the blade, before springing back to his feet where he lit both hands ablaze and attacked the arm holding the sword.

It raised its free arm, covering it with ice before he launched himself forward and slammed his bat onto it. Due to having no joints in its arm, the hit barely did anything, and it cracked its tentacle arm at him like a whip to send him flying backward into a metal wall. He grunted as he impacted and fell to the floor, before focusing and Warping behind the Starman. It looked confused, before he placed both hands on its back and grinned at it turned around. "Hope γ!"

His Gift pulsed through the Starman, and Noct quickly jumped back, recognizing what was about to happen. Its armor glowed blue, red, and yellow, before it erupted in an explosive light show. He grinned,

_Danger, back away _

before a tentacle shot out and wrapped around his neck. "Oh god da-!" It whipped him against the ground, causing him to cough up spittle before a blast from Anthony's cannon forced it to let go of him. He Warped away, falling to the ground next to Noct who used a Lifeup on him. "Noct, Willow, full-powered moves, now! Hope γ!"

"Fireball γ!"

"Starstorm ɑ!" Three powerful psionic attacks converged, and for a moment the Starman looked worried, before it was obscured by a cloud of dust.

"Did we get him?"

"No," Anthony shook his head, for some reason wearing the Starman visor he'd pilfered from the earlier Golden Starman. "Looks like it's still alive. Wait, where did it

_Danger, Anthony_

go?" Sapphire turned and warped, and suddenly he was directly between the Starman Deluxe and Anthony. He watched in slow motion as the Sword of Kings descended, ready to split him from head to groin. He raised his bat and poured his PSI into his arms, not expecting much, and was shocked when the sword was stopped by his bat, only cutting through a bit of the metal. The Starman also looked confused, staring at its smoking tentacle where it held the sword, and he took the opportunity to rear back and headbutt the machine.

It stumbled, not expecting such an attack, and Willow took the opportunity to fire several Thunders into its back. The attacks fizzled out against its armor, and it swiftly turned to swing the blade at her, causing her to yelp and duck back. It stood in between all of them, looking back and forth, before raising its free tentacle and pouring a massive amount of PSI into the air above it, before it shot up and descended on them. "Starstorm."

"Ah, shit!" They all began ducking and diving, With Sapphire grabbing Anthony to shield him from some of the blasts, grunting as the PSI burnt his clothes and back. Starstorm really was powerful, just one of the blasts was able to harm his body and tear up his clothing, both of which were being reinforced subconsciously by his power. When the meteors stopped raining down, Sapphire turned to see the Starman preparing to skewer Willow with the sword, while she was scrambling to grab her pan to try and block.

He Warped, attempting to tackle the Starman, and just barely managed to cause the robot to miss, the sword cutting through the side of Willow's dress instead of her heart. The Starman seemingly sighed, before its body began crackling with electricity. He grinned, and saw the electricity flow into the Franklin Badge instead of shocking him off its body. "Willow, Noct! Light us up!"

Both PSI sensitives launched a coordinated lightning strike on him, and Anthony even fired his beam cannon at him. All the attacks were absorbed into the Franklin Badge, and he quickly found one of the tiny chinks that they'd made in the Starman's armor, sticking the badge as deep inside as it would go, then jumping back before the glowing badge erupted, all of the stored energy blasting directly into the Starman's systems.

It actually made a noise of pain for the first time in the battle, being a scream of pain. It fell to one knee, smoking, and he quickly sprinted forward to rip the Franklin Badge back and _smashed _it into the air. "Ant! Rocket!"

"On it!" Anthony hunkered down and fired a Bottle Rocket, the explosive careening through the air and impacting with the Starman midair, detonating with a massive burst of heat and shrapnel. It fell to the ground, slowly attempting to get up, before Noct was on its back and grabbing at the sword. It stirred and whipped around, throwing Noct back, who simply used the momentum to flip midair and slide along the ground,

"How much punishment can this thing take?"

"It doesn't seem to be going down any time soon," Anthony sighed back.

"Let's keep wailing on it until it does then!"

"Not a very good idea, Polestar-San, considering the fact that it is wielding the Sword of Kings." Noct narrowed his eyes, before falling to the ground into the lotus position. "Protect me for a moment, I have an idea."

"Oh goddamnit and now its a protection mission!" The Starman turned to blast a Freeze at Noct, hearing his order to protect him, and Sapphire quickly interrupted him with a blow to the stomach after Warping to its side. It let out a mechanical snarl, its voice becoming more robotic as it took more damage.

_Danger, duck_

He fell back, watching as the sword swiped through the air above him, cutting through several of his hairs. He scrambled back as the sword was pulled back and cut through the metal between his legs, before Willow was there and blasting the back of its head with a concentrated Flamethrower. The metal on its helmet began melting, and it threw its head back, sending one of its spikes through her stomach.

"Willow!" She fell onto the ground, clutching her stomach, while the Starman prepared to impale her once more. She growled and prepared a Flamethrower, before the Starman stumbled back as Anthony yelled and charged at it, firing his cannon point-blank into the robot. Its armor was practically vaporized, and it wound up to smack Anthony away. Anthony's body wouldn't be able to handle the powerful attack, his bones would probably break instantly, so he launched himself up, ignoring as the spikes on its shoulders pierced his skin, and grabbed its head to pulse a Hope into it.

It shook him off before he could attack, and turned to slice him in two horizontally, but a massive gust of wind staggered it. He turned and blinked when he saw another Starman Deluxe standing where Noct had been sitting, even wielding the same blade. "Master," it spoke, with the same electronic voice, "allow me."

"Holy- Noct?!"

"Indeed. This is my Gift, PSI Mirror. I can mimic whatever foe I am facing, or an ally, to use all of their abilities for myself." It suddenly Warped behind the Starman Deluxe, raising its imitation blade. The real Starman turned and their blades locked, both of them struggling against each other, and Sapphire quickly used a Lifeup ɑ on Willow before helping her up.

"Some form of transformative psionic ability? Fascinating…" he quickly smacked Anthony on the back of the head, before jumping into the fray to assist Noct. With the Starman distracted, he was free to Warp behind it and wind up for a powerful attack.

"Tch. Nothin' personal, kid."

"Shut the hell up and hit it Sapphire!" he grinned and slammed his bat into the back of the Starman, causing it to grunt and fall forward a step, and allow Noct to skewer the robot on his fake blade. It twitched and leaked black ooze, before a beam fired out of its cracked visor and threw Noct back, before turning and whacking him away with the pommel of the sword. He bounced off the ground and rolled a few feet, before getting up while holding his bleeding head. He felt nauseous for a second, before a mix of Healing and Lifeup ɑ cured him. He spat out a wad of blood, before preparing for another bout against the Starman. However, it didn't move, and instead stood still.

"Uh…"

"It doesn't seem… It's calling reinforcements! Destroy it quickly!" He immediately darted forward, but he was blocked by a wall of gold and looked up to see a Golden Starman. It reared back to attack, but he dove between its legs and placed his hand against the small of its back.

"Hope γ!" Its armor exploded outwards and black ooze shot everywhere, before Anthony blasted its vulnerable machine insides and destroyed it. He turned back to Noct and the Deluxe before another Golden Starman appeared. Before it could do anything, Anthony hit it with a blast from the Counter-PSI device, disabling most of its abilities.

"Help Noct, I'll handle this one!" He nodded and charged towards the Starman Deluxe and Noct. Both were in a heated swordfight, Noct's natural skill more than enough to handily defeat the Starman, but on the other hand, the true sword was much deadlier and was easily cutting away armor and pieces of the sword as Noct attacked.

"Get that sword away from it," Anthony shouted slash advised from where he fought the Starman Super.

"Right… I have an idea. Willow!"

A moment later and he grabbed Willow's hand, launching her up and onto the Starman. It stumbled at the sudden weight, and Willow immediately froze the Starman's arm, turning it into a block of ice. The Starman whirred, and he yelled as he Warped next to it, slamming his bat down. With it now being a frozen block, and no longer a dextrous, slippery limb, it easily shattered, sending the sword into the air. Everyone's eyes trailed it as it flew up, then descended.

"I've got it!"

"It's mine!"

"Begone, children of man!"

"Perish!"

They all grabbed at the sword, Willow jumping from the Starman's shoulders, before it grabbed her leg and tossed her back. While it was distracted Noct reached up, but the Sword handle slipped through his new odd limb. The Starman attempted to grab it as it fell, before he was suddenly there, having Warped into the air and grabbed it by the handle. He fell back down, and before the Starman could attack, Warped across the room. He rolled and immediately winced as the sword began burning his hand.

_Thou art not my King… yet thou would wield me for war?_

Fucking fantastic, he had a _third _voice in his head!

_Thou art a Chosen, who did not choose to wield me on purpose, but by mere accident to take me from the forces of Darkness… Acceptable. _

The sword stopped burning, and suddenly the dully glowing symbols all along the blade glowed at full brightness. "Whoa!"

_Wield me to defeat your foe… Or simply return me to my king. I shalt not harm thee during this time…_

His other voice spoke up now.

_The blade will not harm us. Quickly, strike down our foe or return it to Noct._

Yeah, easier said than done. The Starman was staring at him now, so if he tried to return it he'd be attacked, and if he tried to attack, well, he didn't even know how to use a sword! But maybe… He closed his eyes and reached out. Come on, come on… there! Barely a link, but his target could read him easily, even if he couldn't read him in return.

He charged and yelled, raising the sword over his head. The Starman raised its remaining arm, powering up a Fire, before he Warped above it. It looked up, having expected him to do some form of Warp, and blasted the flames up at him. He winced as the fire burnt him, before going through with his plan. He reared back and threw the sword, watching as a nearly identical one flew up and he grasped it. All this happened within a few moments, and as the fire died down, it watched him descend, preparing to bash him aside. It paid no mind to Noct behind it, believing him to wield the imitation blade.

A moment later that assumption cost it, as the Sword of Kings pierced its chest, the blade easily cutting through it, where the fake blade could not. He descended, gripping the fake blade, and slashing downwards, having exchanged swords with Noct while the fire had consumed him and the Starman couldn't see. And, with the Starman's head armor having been melted earlier, his fake blade could cut through it. He sliced down, until the blade wouldn't move anymore, and he jumped back, leaving the sword stuck in its upper chest while the real blade was sticking through its lower chest.

There was a flash of light, and Noct withdrew the sword, walking around the Starman in his true form, the fake blade having vanished as he turned back into a human. The Starman stood there, looking at nothing, as ooze leaked from its various wounds, and weak lights flashed behind its visor. "Is it… over?" he huffed, pulsing a Lifeup ɑ through himself.

"It's shutting down. It took too much damage. Be prepared to destroy it if it attempts anything, everyone." The Starman Deluxe continued to stand there, before it suddenly fell forward, unceremoniously. They watched it for a moment, before he raised an eyebrow.

"What, that's it?" As soon as he spoke, the entire facility rumbled, and the glowing lines and pipes flowing through the walls powered down, draping the room in darkness. "Uh…"

"It looks like the Starman was directly connected to the base's mainframe. It controlled the whole place, and with it dead, the facility is offline."

"Well, that's great! Now we can figure out how to free everyone and get them the hell out of here."

* * *

It turned out that the kidnapped prisoners had automatically been released once the facility shutdown, which was good as they didn't have to figure out which buttons might kill the prisoners and which would free them.

On the other hand, everyone was panicking. "Where are we?!"

"What happened?!"

"What's going on?!"

"Everyone," he shouted, "please calm down!"

"Anthony!" He turned to see Tony run up and hug Anthony, "oh my god, I was so worried! Did you come here to rescue me?!"

"Tony, I'm so glad you're alright! And, uh, I didn't know you specifically were here, but I definetly would have come to save you sooner if I did!"

As touching as that was, the place was still chaotic as hell. A Mr. Saturn bounced past hollering in its weird voice. That was the last straw. He growled and reached deep down, grasping Nightmare. "**SHUT UP!"** With everyone thoroughly cowed by his demonic voice, he pushed Nightmare back down, who was complaining about being used or something. He wasn't really paying attention to the asshole. "Now, I know you all must be scared, but please! We can get through this if we act calmly and rationally!"

With some semblance of order restored, he began barking orders. He'd lead the group out, with Willow, Anthony, and Noct at the sides and back to protect everyone if there were any more Starmen or other aliens still operational. "He's truly taking charge, isn't he?"

"Yep! That's our leader!"

"It only makes sense, the Leader of the Chosen Four has a responsibility to save humanity. Being able to lead a few dozen panicked humans is nothing to master," Noct nodded.

He, meanwhile, was freaking out about so many people following his orders. _Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap… _In any case, it looked like the base had been abandoned with the Starman Deluxe's defeat, not just shut down. No other robots or aliens were wandering around, and eventually, they reached the exit, and he directed everyone to climb up the ladder. Once everyone was out, he followed them up and saw that most of the people were wandering off, to where he didn't know. Anthony was speaking with Doctor Andonuts, Apple Kid, and Tony, while Willow and Noct watched a few people arguing.

"It was aliens, obviously!"

"Aliens don't exist, it was some plot by the government!"

"Aliens!"

"Government!"

That went on for quite some time, and he turned to Noct and Willow. Willow was looking a bit sheepish while Noct had an amused quirk to his lips. "What exactly is that about?"

"Polestar-San accidentally told someone that they had been captured by aliens. An argument between people on whether or not aliens exist quickly started."

"Uh… I mean, wasn't that clearly an alien base down there?"

"They were unconscious within the tubes, if you'll recall. They did not know it was aliens specifically."

"Sorry," Willow giggled sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes and jokingly pat her on the head. "Eh, they'll eventually find out when the true invasion begins. And I'm sure some of them assumed it was aliens already. Just be careful next time."

She brightened up and stuck her tongue out at Noct, who just rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I guess we should get ready to get going. Next was…"

"Heading to my Kingdom to learn more of your powers."

"Right, that. I mean, if you think it's super necessary then sure, but I just feel odd not trying to get all of the Sanctuaries as soon as possible. Especially when GIygas' troops have begun to kidnap more and more people now. But I get what you're saying, Noct-San, we should definitely learn more about our powers."

"Hey, I suppose we're leaving now?" Anthony walked over with Tony, turning to him.

"Yep, said your goodbyes?"

Anthony nodded, and Tony took a step forward. "Hey, I just want to say thanks for taking care of Anthony for me… He's my best friend you know, so I worry about him."

"It's no problem, hell, sometimes he's taking care of us!"

"If you mean keeping all of us on track then yes, I'm doing that at all times."

Tony grinned. "Well, in any case, thanks again."

He nodded at the boy who then wandered back to the doctor, before returning to his fellow Chosen. "Alright, grab on." Anthony and Willow grasped his shoulders, while Noct grabbed theirs. "Teleport α!" They began moving, and the cold snow of Winters vanished, instead replaced by the cold of Dalaam. It wasn't that bad since they weren't coming from Summers or anywhere in Eagleland, but it still wasn't pleasant.

"So, what now?"

"We go to the palace," Noct nodded, walking up the path. They'd appeared near the northern and higher up area of Dalaam, so this time they didn't have to deal with a bunch of people staring and talking about them. The walk was only a few minutes long, and the large palace quickly came into view.

The first thing that came to mind for Sapphire was how large it was, and the next was how much gold there was. "That's, uh…"

"Whoa, so cool!" Willow jumped up and down and clapped her hands, causing him to snap out of it and snicker. Anthony nodded, holding his hands up to frame the palace.

"The entranceway certainly fits the golden rectangle perfectly, I must say."

Noct shrugged, and lead them inside. Several women and men turned to them and watched the prince walk by, making his way to the throne room. On the way he and the others looked around at the insides of the palace with awe, only stopping once they reached the aforementioned throne room. Inside, Noct's advisor and teacher stood by the throne, not sitting in it. Spotting the Chosen, he smiled and bowed, speaking in perfect English. "Welcome, Starr-San, Polestar-San, Andonuts-San, Prince Noct."

"Sensei," Noct bowed, and they hastily followed his example. The man simply chuckled, waving his hand.

"Rise, please. Now, what brings you all back to Dalaam so soon? Have you not conquered the Pink Cloud?"

"Sensei, I wish to use the Palace's training facilities for my fellow Chosen. I have not had the time to train them due to traveling and the problems we encountered along the way."

"Understandable," his sensei nodded. "I understand why you are asking this of me, even though you are the prince. The citizens may see outsiders, even if they are the Chosen, using our facilities as… well, undesirable. I shall make sure if word goes out that your citizens know this is for the good of Dalaam and the world."

"Arigato, sensei. We shall stay until we have made good progress with their training." Noct stood and nodded at them. "Come, let us get you rooms, then begin training immediately."

* * *

They each had their own rooms, his own being in between Anthony's and Willow's. Noct's was somewhere else, probably in his own royal suite or something. After throwing his bag onto his large new bed and changing into his last, spare clothes, really just a plain shirt and jeans along with the hat he never took off, he made his way to the training grounds Noct had described.

Noct was waiting for him, the Sword of Kings embedded in the ground before him, while he kneeled down. He awkwardly stood, waiting for Willow and Anthony to arrive, after which Noct looked up. "Anthony, as you cannot use PSI, I suggest you rest or work on your machines. With how hard you work to create new inventions and rockets, you are probably tired."

Anthony blinked, before shrugging. "You aren't wrong. I'll try and get some work done, before taking a nap or something."

As the blond wandered off, Noct turned to him and Willow. "Willow, you specialize in devastating attacks, of both the single target and area of effect variety, However, you still have not unlocked the Omega levels of your offensive abilities, and you grow weary after throwing them around. Continue to use Delta level abilities again and again until you train enough to unleash Omega levels, and until you can use them comfortably without worrying about your limits."

"I get to blow things up? Okay!" She skipped away, fire, ice, and lighting already swirling around her.

"That may or may not have been a mistake," he smirked at Noct. Noct let an amused grin fall into place, before shaking his head and standing up.

"Maybe. As for you, you tend to be much more well-rounded. I myself have training in offensive abilities, but honestly, I will probably never learn anything stronger than the Delta levels, as I am more inclined to healing. I am much more inclined to be support, with my repertoire of healing abilities, shield skills, and support skills like brainshock and hypnosis. You, on the other hand, have a mix of skills in everything. Healing, offensive and defensive, even your subconscious PSI usage that gives us strength, endurance, and agility makes you durable enough to take blows that could knock any of us out."

"So what should I do? Weight lifting?" He asked in jest, flexing a skinny arm. Which was funny to think about. He looked exactly like the average thirteen-year-old, yet was strong enough to bash through metal objects because of some PSI.

"Not necessarily…" he watched as Noct withdrew his sword from the ground, the white etchings on the blade humming almost happily. "I will be attacking you. Defend yourself by infusing your body with PSI so you aren't harmed. You may attack back, to practice with your bat."

"Okay, hold up!" He waved his arms and took a step back. "That Sword was cutting through metal like butter, and that was when it was wielded by something that _wasn't _you, so it wasn't even at full strength! That thing will cleave me in half!"

"She doesn't like being referred to as a thing."

"Well, then _she _can do us both a favor and _not _cut my body in two!"

Noct rolled his eyes and twirled the sword with practiced ease before slipping it into a new sheath on his left hip. "I won't be infusing Faithkeeper with any PSI. She'll be as damaging as a normal sword, so not very against your tough skin."

"Uh, Faithkeeper? I thought she was the Sword of Kings?"

"She is. But that is simply the title of her blade. All weapons forged on Dalaam have titles and true names, the true names being the ones we give them. The title of Sword of Kings is one of a kind, as she is the only one to exist. I've named her Faithkeeper in honor of your own faith in Hope. I wish to emulate that and bring hope to my own people. We could forge you a blade if you so wish, perhaps a Blade of Firaya, or Sword of Heroes?"

"No, I'll stick with my bat."

"Are you sure? I understand you have no training in wielding a sword, but surely it would be better than a baseball bat."

"I appreciate it, but even if I've never fought with one before _literally_ this very month, I've still used bats for years. I'd appreciate an upgrade though, maybe a special Dalaam baseball bat with all that magic shit?"

"I'll put in an order with the Forgemaster."

"…I was joking, but that might come in handy. We'll make Willow's special frying pan too. Might as well have everyone kitted out."

"True. Now, are you done procrastinating? I won't be holding back. Fight as if you mean to kill. " He winced and laughed sheepishly, tossing his shirt off so it wouldn't be damaged and raising his bat. Noct didn't wait for a signal, instead immediately unsheathing Faithkeeper and swiping at him. He scrambled back, nearly tripping and falling as the blade passed over his nose.

"Fuck!" He scrambled backward, raising his arm and pumping all of his energy into it. Faithkeeper sliced down like an executioner's ax, cutting into his arm only slightly, really, only as deep as a paper cut. That wasn't to say that Noct was holding back, no, his arm jolted back from the sheer strength Noct had put behind the strike, but without PSI she was simply a normal sword against a toughened arm.

He pushed back to send Noct flying, and he quickly jumped to his feet. He watched as Boct did a flip to land lightly, not even disturbing the dust of the training grounds. He tightened his grip on his bat and yelled, running forward and swinging. Noct easily dodged, flowing under his wild swing, before swinging his blade. His eyes widened and in instinct he Warped away, falling to the dirt as Faithkeeper sliced through where his neck had been milliseconds earlier.

"What the hell, man?! Are you trying to take my head off?!"

"The point of this exercise is for you to grow tougher, and to be able to instinctively push PSI to where it needs to be and not think about it. Not dodging and weaving."

He groaned and set his stance again, getting ready. Noct sped forward, slashing at his stomach, and he quickly reinforced it so he wouldn't be disemboweled. Faithkeeper glared off him like steel on stone, but Noct kept moving and slashed upwards, drawing blood from his chin even though he threw his head back at the last second. He narrowed his eyes and Warped, winding up to attack Noct from behind.

Noct anticipated this and smoothly transitioned from his rising slash to a spinning downward thrust, aiming for him, but he simply smirked and Warped a second time, to above Noct. Noct couldn't reverse his momentum until he stabbed the ground, and by then Sapphire had wound up and unleashed a devastating blow, slamming Noct into the ground.

The rocky ground visibly cracked, and he let a triumphant grin crawl onto his face, before Noct kicked his legs out from under him and unleashed a devastating blow to his chest, slamming him into the ground as well. He grunted as he heard his head crack against the ground, and the air vanished from his lungs, but he continued to glare up at Noct, who glared back down. "Is that all? Your strategy was good, but you assumed I was down and out too quickly."

"Shove it!" He struggled to get up, before Noct punched him across the face. The blow was such a surprise that he stopped and stared. Noct raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

"What? I said to fight me as if you meant to kill. I hope you realize that means I wouldn't be holding back either."

He reached up and tried to grasp Noct's arm, but the prince simply punched him across the face again. His eyes flashed and he Warped, teleporting them both a meter off the ground. The sudden change in scenery was jarring for Noct, and he was able to punch the boy away. Noct move with the blow, spinning and delivering a kick to him, as they were knocked away from each other.

As they skid along the ground, Noct smirked at him. "Are you finally fighting true?"

Even as he glared, he couldn't help the smirk that slipped onto his face. Yes, those punches hurt like a bitch, but he knew that Noct was doing this to help him. He trusted his friend. He looked down to where Faithkeeper and his bat were laying on the ground, having been dropped when Noct pinned him, and Warped forward, beating Noct to them.

As he bent down, he thought about Noct's words. Fight as though he meant to kill. Well, in a true fight, there's no such thing as fair, right? He kicked up a cloud of dirt into Noct's path, causing the boy to instinctively close his eyes while he bent down to retrieve his bat. As he did, he grabbed Faithkeeper as well, wincing when she burnt his hand.

Still, he swung the sword, yet Noct somehow knew it was coming and ducked under her. What he wasn't prepared for, however, was Sapphire's bat to swing upwards into his face and bash him back. Due to the awkward position he had to place himself in to make both swings in quick succession it didn't hurt too bad, but it was still a metal baseball bat to the face.

Noct rolled to his feet when he landed, wiping the dirt from his eyes. "A dirty tactic."

"All's fair in love and kicking your ass."

"Very true." Noct shot forward, and his hands lit up with PSI, before icicles formed on his hands. He expected Noct to try and throw them, but instead, the boy _swung at him, _shocking him so much that a single hit got in, and the sharp blades of ice cut through his cheek. He was prepared for the next, dropping Faithkeeper just as the burning was starting to get worse to catch the next fist, pulling Noct forward to headbutt him.

Noct instead turned his off-balance fall into a shoulder check, knocking them both to the ground and catching his sword before it fell in one smooth move, reaching up to stab down. He quickly reacted by placing both hands on the ground and using a PSI Hope, blasting apart the rocks and causing them to tumble away from each other.

He scrambled to his feet, jumping back just in time as Faithkeeper barely slashed across his stomach, and he raised his bat to bash Noct away. Noct deflected through attack before thrusting forward towards his stomach. Even though Katanas were made for slashing, its pointed tip could have still hurt like a bitch, so he clumsily moved to the side, letting the blade slice across him.

But, with Noct extended as he was, he could grasp the back of the prince's head and bring his knee up to deliver a devastating blow to his nose.

_Crunch!_

Noct's head flew back as blood dripped from his broken nose, but his smirk stayed on his face as he swung his blade, causing him to instinctively block with his forearm, not even thinking as his arm glowed with PSI and blocked the blade, not even a cut appearing. He grappled with the boy for a moment, raising his other arm to block and once again instinctively pulsing PSI through it.

He lashed out, a hand filled with Hope energy, stopping just short of Noct's face while Noct's sword stopped inches from his face. They stared at each other, Noct staring and him breathing heavily, before they both dropped their weapons and fell to the ground. "Ah shit, you hit like a goddamn truck…"

"You did well. Lifeup β." Noct's nose fixed itself, and the prince quickly fixed his wounds as well. "Did you notice how you were fighting more instinctively with your PSI at the end there?"

He thought back and nodded. "Yeah, at the beginning I had to think about where to send my energy, and that cost me some time, but in the end, I was following my instincts."

"Correct. Shall we go again?"

"Ugh… give me a second to catch a break."

"Alright." He breathed for a moment, closing his eyes. "One second has passed." His eyes snapped open to see Noct slashing at him, and he was almost certain he heard Faithkeeper laughing at him.

"Mother_fucker!"_

* * *

Sapphire sighed as he stretched, happy to have his normal striped shirt and pants back on after having been repaired by someone. Probably a servant. He closed his eyes as he sat down on his large bed, diving into his psyche.

He once again found himself within the space he shared with Nightmare, with the creature floating impatiently. "**Well? Come on, mom said it's my turn in the flesh suit!"**

"Never again refer to my body as a flesh suit," he sighed, shuddering at the mental image. There was the usual feeling of what happened when he exchanged control, and then Nightmare was standing up, stretching.

Nightmare looked around, before walking onto his balcony which overlooked the village further down the mountain. "**I don't understand why you humans built a village so high up when you can freeze to death."**

"Well, you really shouldn't be asking me that. I'm questioning it myself, really."

"**It's not like I can pop over to the prince's room and ask."**

"Eh. True. I mean, some people like the cold, plus they're a total hidden village with the sole purpose of studying PSI to help us defeat Giygas. They probably don't want people bothering them."

"**It's still stupid. Why not just make your stupid village in the Bahamas or some shit?"**

"I dunno." With that, Nightmare vaulted over his balcony, landing with a thud and walking towards the village. "Remember the ru—"

"**Yeah, yeah, I remember the damn rules." **Nightmare rolled his eyes as Sapphire snickered. They eventually made their way to the edge of the village, and Nightmare sat down, dangling his legs over the cliffside and looking out over the sea of clouds below them, and the sea of stars and the moon in the sky.

As Nightmare continued sitting there, Sapphire felt a tug on his mind and turned to see the Hawk-Eye version of himself. "Something you need?"

"_I suppose. I simply wish to ask what your goal is concerning Nightmare."_

"Don't you mean our goal?"

"_It is our body and our mind, but not our intentions. Though I may be partially formed from the Hawk-Eye, and most of your subconscious, I have enough autonomy to realize befriending your counterpart is a bad idea."_

"Listen, as much as I hate him, when I make promises I keep them. He saved my friends, so I'll let him have time to himself. Besides, can't you see that letting him out and become more comfortable with me could help change his allegiance? It's like I told Ant and Wils, he seems to prioritize his own survival more than serving Giygas. Something he probably gained by infecting a human heart and absorbing parts of a human soul."

"_I'm not saying I don't see your point, as it is true. However, were Nightmare to ever attempt something while in control—"_

"He can't. We destroyed the Mani-Mani, remember? That gave him a hell of a lot of strength, and with it gone he can't influence my emotions unless I'm already incredibly upset. And I'm not exactly going to let him out on purpose while I'm angry or sad or something."

"_Very well. Do know that I am simply trying to assist you to the best of my abilities as an advisor."_

"Well, Ant did say you were the god of Clarity and Sight, of course you'd be my advisor," he chuckled.

"_Ah, yes, the ancient religion. I myself can not confirm how much of it was true, considering I was solely made to assist you, but if you wish to call me Napil or something similar it is up to you."_

"Eh, if you'd rather be called Hawk-Eye that's fine. Just don't get me in trouble with Marvel."

"_Very well. I won't tell anyone else my name."_

"Uh, that was a joke…" Hawk-Eye's deadpan face tilted into a small smirk, and he sighed. "Oh great, your sense of humor is sarcasm."

"_Our sense of humor."_

He just flipped off the Hawk-Eye, though not without a smirk of his own. "Alright. Better get back to monitoring Nightmare."

"_Do not worry, he has done nothing in the time you've been absent."_

"Oh, cool. Thanks." With that, he vanished and refocused on the darker of his two inner voices. Nightmare was staring at the moon now, seemingly counting the craters. How he could see them, he had no idea.

"**It's a full moon tonight."**

"Yeah, I noticed."

"**I've never liked the moon."**

"Saying you've never liked the moon makes it sound heavier than it is. You've been alive for only a few weeks, dipshit."

Nightmare snorted. "**You've got a point. What about you?"**

Having a conversation with Nightmare where they weren't constantly threatening each other? Truly a miracle. "I mean, it looks nice, but I've always preferred the day and the sun. It's warmer and more inviting. Sure, you can't look right at it, but the night never really was my thing."

"**It's ironic. If I'm your opposite, I should love what you hate, and hate what you love. Yet I feel the same. The moon too, it's always felt ominous for some reason. I feel like it could just crash down at any moment."**

"I mean, I guess? It could eventually because of gravity or something, but that's not exactly going to happen in my lifetime. Don't tell me Giygas hid some massive extraterrestrial monster inside the moon and is planning on releasing it. Or maybe it is the moon?" He had a sarcastic tone, but he was partially curious. There wasn't exactly much they could do against the fucking moon if it came crashing down.

"**Please, I've already said I know jack-shit about Giygas' plans. I was trapped inside of that statue for thousands of years before I got unearthed and could finally gain a host. I wasn't exactly privy to his strategy meetings."**

"What was it like? It must have sucked."

Nightmare snorted. "**You think it's bad with me and that eye inside your head? You've got it easy. Imagine being stuck with thousands of voices, each clambering to be in control every millisecond of every day, for years and years."**

"Wait, how many people were in the statue with you? I thought you, uh, _were _the statue?"

"**Nah. It's like Monotoli said. The Mani-Mani attracted dark spirits to it, trapping us inside, before unleashing us on anyone caught in its power. A bunch of spirits infected you while your heart was weakened, we became your negativity, and thus I was born. I'm still not sure if I'm just a singular spirit that overcame the others and is now in control, or if I'm simply all of them, merged."**

He wasn't sure how to reply to that one. "So that's why you hate being trapped in me? It reminds you of those thousands of years trapped in the statue, compounded with my own restlessness?"

Nightmare seemingly realized he was talking too much, and his gaze immediately hardened. "**Whatever. If killing you will give me control, then I'll gladly do as Giygas orders."**

Alright, and back to threatening him. "Well, you can try. But I won't exactly go down without a fight. Now, it's been a while. I'll let you out again tomorrow."

"**Hmph." **Nightmare didn't argue, and after a moment he was back in control. He stood up and looked at the moon, before making his way back to the palace. He reached his room after a short walk and blinked when he saw Willow standing outside it, thinking about something.

"Wils?"

"Eep!" She jumped in place and turned frantically to him, blushing for some odd reason. "Nothing! What?" She turned from him to the door and back. "I thought you were inside your room?"

"Ah, no, I was taking a walk."

"Oh. Uh, well…" she blushed harder and rubbed her arm. "Do you mind if I sleep with you? I… I had a nightmare that, well, that Nightmare took over your body again…"

Yikes. What would she say if she found out he was basically loaning his body to Nightmare to hang out in every night? "Sure, it's no problem."

Her face brightened. "Great!" He opened the door and led her in before they both jumped onto the bed. "It's so weird that we're basically living in a palace right now!"

"Tell me about it. Whenever I try and do anything a servant comes up and tries to do it for me! It's nice for a short while, but I couldn't stand living here my whole life."

"Yeah, I get what you mean."

"For now it's pretty cool. Our PSI will be upgraded in no time!" She giggled at his words, nodding.

"Yep! And Anty can finally get more sleep since he's not walking around all day after working on a machine all night!"

"That guy is seriously nocturnal," he chuckled. He climbed under the blankets and yawned, rubbing his eyes. "anyway, I guess we should get to sleep."

She crawled under as well, and hugged his arm, causing him to blush. He still wasn't sure why though. Didn't they sleep like this back when they first met, in Happy-Happy? This was basically the same thing, a sleepover, so why was he embarrassed? "Nighty-night, Sapphy…"

"Yeah… night." He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

**This chapter was originally longer, involving Sapphire getting his new bat, but that made the chapter a bit too long. I like these chapters to be around 5-6000 words so I can get them out in a one-week time frame, only being longer as the last chapter when I get super into the writing or have enough time outside of college. **

**I haven't written a long battle like the beginning and middle of the chapter between the Chosen Four and the Starman Deluxe, and Sapphire versus Noct for a while, but I believe I did alright.**

**I actually intended to post this yesterday, but after completing both a public speaking test and a Graphic Design test on an hour and thirty minutes of sleep, I literally for the rest of the day. In any case, review with what you liked or simply a 'nice chapter,' both are great to read.**

**See y'all next time!**


	28. Chapter 28: Body and Mind

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Body and Mind

The next day followed the pattern of the previous. After having woken up and eating breakfast, plus a call to their families, the Chosen made their way out to the courtyard to practice with their PSI more. Although, with them having the whole day to practice, and not the remainder of a day as they had after fighting their way through the Stonehenge base, as well as all of their PSI after resting, Noct could go all out on Sapphire.

The first half of his day was filled with pain as Noct continued to wail on him with precise slashes and cuts that wouldn't kill whenever he managed to get through Sapphire's guard or when Sapphire couldn't reinforce his body in time, but would still hurt like hell. Hours passed, and the courtyard was filled with the sounds of clashing metal from Sapphire and Noct's bouts, the clinking of tools as Anthony worked on his weapons, and explosions a Willow trained her PSI. By the time the sun had reached its zenith, Sapphire and Willow were exhausted.

"Go take a break. We'll continue afterward. Oh, perhaps you should see the Forgemaster about your new bat. There's one last step in the process of making our mystical weapons that the weirder must be there for. Willow, let's see what progress you're making."

Sapphire just nodded, before he grabbed his bat and limped his way out of the courtyard, using a Lifeup as he went to heal himself. His entire body was sore, even ares that had managed to avoid the onslaught. He vaguely knew the way to the blacksmith, or forge, or whatever they called it, so he followed the directions in his head and reached the building within a few minutes.

It was a squat building with a chimney puffing a constant cloud of smoke that flowed in a direction opposite to the village. He heard the thudding of metal within, and walked inside to see the Forgemaster hunkered over a… well, a forge. He walked forward and hopped onto a spare table, waiting for the Forgemaster to be finished. He didn't want to accidentally distract them.

After a few minutes, the Forgemaster turned to him. She was a tall, buff woman with black hair tied into a ponytail and piercing silver eyes. She stood at least a foot or two taller than him, putting her at around seven feet tall. But despite her intimidating stature and eyes, she grinned widely when she saw him. "Sapphire!"

"Howdy," he smiled back, waving. He hopped off the table and skirted around the forge, not wanting to touch anything. "Noct told— oh, uh, Crown Prince Noct told me to come here for the last part involving my bat? Or something?"

The woman laughed at his blunder, as he'd forgotten to say Noct's full title due to spending too much time with him, training or hanging out. "Yes, yes. Final process of Soul-Forging. Is… very delicate, very important." Unlike Noct and his Sensei, she spoke somewhat broken English. Not as bad as some people though, and he could clearly make out what she was saying.

She walked into the back room after motioning for him to wait at the same time her two apprentices walked out. They both bowed to her as she passed, before noticing him and coming over. The boy was very clearly excited, while the girl, the Forgemaster's daughter, tried to hide it. Not very well, though. "Howdy, keeping you the good work?" He jokingly questioned.

The boy, Oishi Kikaku, tilted his head, not understanding, while the girl, Yukawa Yone, knowing about as much English as her mother, translated for the boy. She then cleared her throat, "Kikaku-San wants know how Crown Prince Noct is doing."

He grinned at her hidden interest. Both of the kids there interested in his PSI when he'd first arrived, and even more in awe when Noct showed up with him. "He's doing fine. We're training together— well, I'm taking a break right now to get my new weapon, but he's teaching me some PSI."

He was pretty sure Oishi-San muttered lucky under his breath, even if he couldn't understand him. Yukawa-San just nodded, still trying to hide her interest. Oh wait, Kikaku-San and Yone-San. He almost forgot that he was supposed to assess them by their family names, not their first names. Honestly, Dalaam culture seemed more and more like Japan's, just with some influence of the Scarabians.

Since they weren't doing anything, simply waiting, he decided to show them a few tricks. He held out his hands and powered them up, before two small balls of energy formed in his hands. He tossed them up, before beginning to juggle them, forming a third, fourth, and fifth ball. He may or may not have been applying some telekinesis so he didn't accidentally drop them, but none of them would figure that out. After a minute he let them drop, and once they were all lined up, he smashed them together.

They exploded into a cloud of minuscule lights, looking like the night sky and brightening the room. He grinned at the looks of awe on the apprentices faces, and looked up to see the Forgemaster walk back into the room with a baseball bat shaped object covered in cloth in both hands. She looked at the light show with a raised eyebrow, before motioning him over.

"Come, final process of Soul-Forging. Dalaam trade secret."

"What exactly is Soul-Forging? It sounds… pretty odd."

"Soul-Forging requires unique PSI talent. Is not a Gift, so mastery can be attained by anyone willing to train in it. However, all Forgemasters must know Soul-Forging to become Forgemaster. Is important to forging weapons." She placed the bat down on a table, taking off the covering to reveal his new weapon. Similarly to the Sword of Kings, the handle was black with brown leather wrappings as a grip so his hands wouldn't slip while wielding it, with a golden knob at the end, with the metal barrel being the same gold color, plus a blue end cap.

However, unlike the Sword of Kings, there were no etchings on it. He turned to the Forgemaster with a confused glance, and she simply smiled. "Weapons gain power through PSI. Symbols etched into weapons allow wielder to put PSI into them. Different symbols allow different PSI." She grabbed an axe from the wall, and showed him the blades, which had similar symbols to the Sword of Kings, but much, much less. "Symbols of fire god. Allow wielders to power it with Fire Alpha to Omega without melting it."

"That's pretty cool," he whistled.

"Sword of Kings has symbols of all gods, extremely powerful. What symbols you want?"

"Oh, uh…" he blinked and crossed his arms. That was a good question. He didn't know much about Dalaam gods, but he did remember they based a lot of their culture on the Scarabians. He probably should have listened more to Anthony when he was talking about Scarabian religion. What few did he remember, anyway? And which of them would actually help him? "Uh, any suggestions?"

She nodded. "Fire god symbols for Fire, like I said. God of cold for Freeze. Goddess of Storms for Thunder. Any specific PSI in mind?"

Well he didn't know Freeze, or Thunder, and was pretty novice with Fire. Could Hope work? "Are there any symbols for Gifts? Like my Hope?"

"No, Gifts specific to people, no Gods hold power over them."

"Right…" Light? He could use Flash after all. Maybe Hypnosis or Paralysis? He thought back to that morning, where Anthony had bombarded him and Willow with new facts about the things he'd translated overnight, and which he only half-listened.

"Apparently," Anthony had started, grinning excitedly over his food, "some gods also had human champions!"

"What, so humans were patrons or something?" Willow had questioned him back, tilting her head.

"No, those were the animals. Scarabians believed that if a human did enough impressive deeds, a god could choose them to be their human champion. If they then completed a gods trials, they would become gods themselves!"

"Could I be the god of burgers and shakes?" He'd snarkily asked back, smirking.

"Hush! Here, in their religion, Napil had several champions but only one became a god. Ra-theris was a thief who could steal from anyone. He one day fell in love with a queen who loved him back, and they met in secret every night for a year so as to protect the queen's reputation for dating a thief."

"Aw, that's adorable!" Willow had squealed to herself, and he remembered rolling his eyes with a grin.

"Anyway, one day the queen died from an illness, and Ra-theris, filled with grief and rage, aimed to use his skills of thievery to sneak and break his way into the afterlife, and steal her back from where the God Viol-fo was leading her through the river of life."

"Whoa, whoa, how the hell do you break into the afterlife?"

Anthony had rolled his eyes and snorted. "Dude, it's ancient religion. Most of this is fake. Everything else is exaggerated."

"But some amount of it is true, as we based much of our PSI off of the Scarabians," Noct cut in.

"Continuing on, Napil, witnessing Ra-theris' resolve and will to save his lover, in exchange for becoming his champion, gifted him the Hawk-Eye to give him True Sight and make his way through the river of life, as a living mortal wouldn't be able to find his way through without it. He managed to steal her soul back from Viol-fo, but he was also considered the god of rage for a reason. He went on a complete rampage, causing mass death to livestock and the like."

"What? Why not just kill people or something?"

"This is ancient Scarabia, Sapphire. Livestock are incredibly important, a small village could have starved within days if even a third of their livestock were killed. The Queen, while wanting to be with her lover, knew that to save her people she'd have to give herself up, and gave herself back to Viol-fo. Ra-theris was distraught, but as he was now a champion of Napil, he continued to do as the god wished until the day he died."

"Wait, so how does he become a god?"

"If you'd wait for me to explain, I'd tell you! As he's being led down the river of life and looking over all of his deeds, Viol-fo realizes he was the one who stole the queen back from death. He becomes enraged, but as Ra-theris was still Napil's champion and still held the Hawk-Eye, he managed to escape death and flee to one of Napil's temples. Napil, impressed that he managed to escape from death twice, even if with assistance, elevated him to a minor god."

"Damn, so if I escape death twice I can become a god? Dank."

"Minor," Anthony had cut back in. "He was immortal, but not a true god. After a few hundred years of more thievery and being Napil's champion, there was some kind of invasion of Scaraba, I'm not sure what since I haven't translated that part properly, but he managed to steal the invaders plans and defeat them from behind enemy lines, which caused the gods to elevate him from minor god status to major."

"So what domains or whatever did he get?"

"Well, he gained a new name, Raco-Therisis, and he became the God of Thieves, Willpower, and heroes."

"How can he be a god of both thieves and heroes? Aren't those two things completely different?"

"Thieves can be heroes as well," Anthony shrugged. "There are many stories in literature, history, or religion where a thief was responsible for saving a multitude of people. Here, look at this." Anthony held up a paper with two pictures, one of a stylized star, cut up into its five triangles and the pentagram in the center, all of them with unique symbols within them, and a flaming bird. "His patron animal was a Bennu, or the Scarabian version of the phoenix, symbolizing rebirth from fire, life from death, and endurance through pain."

Sapphire came back to the present to see the Forgemaster still waiting, and looked down at what would be his new bat. Endurance through pain. He hated his friends getting hurt, and combined with his incredible endurance, he seemed to always be in the front, taking the blows. "The symbol for Raco-Therisis, it's a star, right?"

The Forgemaster nodded. "His symbol gives strength and stamina. Improve physical PSI that affects your body, not mind PSI that affects Fire and Thunder and such."

"That, then." He grinned. "The star for Starr."

The Forgemaster didn't understand his pun, but she still smiled and nodded. "Will begin engraving. Return by tomorrow."

"Does engraving take that long?"

"Not just engraving." He waited for her to explain, but she didn't elaborate. She simply smiled mischievously.

* * *

Sapphire coughed as his breath was forced from his lungs as Noct delivered a devastating blow to his stomach, and he was bent in two as he gasped, before Noct's knee launched upwards, cracked into his jaw, and threw him onto his back.

Faithkeeper came thrusting down, and it was only pure instinct that let him fill his neck with enough PSI to make the sword glance off. He then surged upwards, gripping Noct's gi, and head butting him as hard as he could. Noct winced, and he placed both feet firmly onto Noct's chest and launched the prince backward before clumsily rolling back onto his feet, grasping his cracked bat. Since he was getting a new bat soon, he was fine with going all out, no matter what might happen to his bat.

Noct easily recovered and gripped Faithkeeper, her glyphs turning from white to red before the sword burst into flames. Noct made a slash and sent an arc of fire towards him, which he quickly dodged by jumping to the side. The glyphs changed color to light blue, and when Noct stabbed down icicles burst from the ground shooting straight towards him.

He slammed a palm onto the ground and unleashed a blast of Hope, destroying the ground and shattering the ice. He kicked up a sharp piece and wound up, before launching it with his bat. Noct easily sliced it in two, before sprinting forward and slicing towards his chest, which he blocked with his bat in a bunting position.

It held, for a moment. Before, a second later, his bat completely separated into two. There was a brief moment where Faithkeeper was slicing forward and Sapphire was falling backward unbalanced, before he filled his weapon pieces with Hope, detonating them and sending shrapnel into both Noct and himself, though he was ready. Noct flinched at the sudden metal piercing him, before Sapphire grabbed him by the throat and launched him over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground.

Noct recovered just in time, grabbing Faithkeeper in a reverse grip as she fell from his hands, and slicing upwards, only stopping after a drop of blood slid down the blade as it cut into his throat. Sapphire swallowed, and Noct grinned. "Well done. You almost had me."

"Yeah, if it weren't for your bullshit reaction speed…" Noct lowered Faithkeeper and he stood up, offering a hand for the prince. "Lifeup α." Their bodies flashed and healed before he smiled. "But I guess I'm getting a bit better."

"Indeed." An explosion drew their attention, and they watched as Willow lowered her arms, panting as smoke drifted from said arms.

"She should probably take a break soon."

"Hm. You are getting your new weapon, now, yes? Why not bring Willow so she can ask for her new weapon?"

"Yeah, good idea. Magic Frying Pans are the shit." He walked over and pat her head, causing her to blink and look up at him tiredly. "Up and at 'em, Wils. time for a break."

"My everything hurts…"

"Hey, don't start stealing my catchphrases. Come on." He picked her up and let her climb onto his back, yawning as she did so.

"I'm tired… and my head hurts…"

"PSI exhaustion does not just cause migraines, but also fatigue. While not quite stamina, you might start feeling sluggish in a similar way as if you'd run a long time."

"You heard Noct," he shrugged. "I'm going to get my new bat, and you can show the Forgemaster your frying pan so she knows how to design your new one. You can rest on the way there." She just mumbled and nodded, yawning again and laying her head on his shoulder. He blushed, before shaking his head and following Noct out of the courtyard. "Hey, so how does the courtyard get fixed so fast? It was totally banged up last night, and today it's trashed as well."

"How do you think? PSI Sensitives. I've told you that those who can use PSI live in the palace to train, yes? Those with the potential for PSI Earth are used for such purposes, fixing damage, creating training dummies, things such as that. When we need new houses, they can build strong foundations, or if we need more land, they can manipulate the earth upwards and outwards, while keeping the mountaintop stable as to prevent collapses."

Sapphire looked behind them and saw a man in a gi similar to Noct's holding his hands out, causing the destroyed courtyard to begin fixing itself. "Earth sounds and looks pretty strong. How many other types of PSI are there?"

"How many do you think? As many as there are stars in the sky. With Gifts being unique, everything has its own type of PSI. other than Gifts, there is PSI affecting darkness as there is light, the opposite of your Flash, water for ground, the opposite of Earth… Truly, if the mind can think it, it is an ability. PSI is the strength of the mind after all. Aside from Soul-Forging, Forgemasters are usually masters of Metalicy or the manipulation of metal. Though, it isn't as important as Soul-Forging when becoming a Forgemaster."

"Right, what exactly is Soul-Forging? I know it has something to do with using the symbols of your, or the Scarabian gods, to allow PSi through an object without it exploding, right?"

"Ah, the Forgemaster did not explain?" Noct blushed for a second. "I'll be honest, I did not care much for the godly aspect of our religion, just that it seems to be divine in a sense, and so don't know much of the Soul-Forging process considering how ingrained it is with our religion. However, there is a reason it is known as Soul-Forging. Tell me, you heard Faithkeeper's voice when you held her, correct?"

"Yeah, and she was really goddamn haughty."

"I feel obligated to tell you that she wants me to punch you for that." He flipped off the sword, causing Noct to roll his eyes. "That is Soul-Forging. To use and wield PSI, you require a mind, and our weapons, even with sigils and etchings, cannot withstand Omega level PSI without detonating, and that is where the Soul-Forging comes in. By implanting a part of a Forgemaster's soul within a blade or weapon, the weapon becomes sentient and alive, capable of withstanding their wielders PSI."

"So you're telling me I'm going to have to deal with another damn voice? This is getting old…"

Noct scoffed. "Your weapon is a unique one. Unlike the more common Soul-Forged weapons our soldiers wield, with more muted personalities, or none at all, your weapon will be tailor-made just for you. There will be only a whisper in the back of your mind at first, and eventually, as you affect your blade, the voice will change. It may grow and become louder, communicating with you constantly as another companion, as Faithkeeper does for me. Perhaps it will grow to be a silent companion, always by your side but never saying a word. It could grow to be anything."

"Jeez, that's the most you've talked, like, ever."

"I may be a boy of few words, but as my responsibility is to teach you, teach you I shall. No matter how dry my throat gets."

"Wait, but what about Faithkeeper? If she was the legendary Sword Of Kings or whatever for a long time and could only be wielded by you, why was she already so loud?"

"She _really _wants me to punch you. And it's simply because she was alive for so long already. Even though she was without a wielder and waiting for me within a hibernation, she was tailor forged specifically for me, even if it was centuries ago."

"Huh." They fell into a comfortable silence after that, making their way through the village and towards the forge. The air was cold against Sapphire's bare chest, as he forewent a shirt while training so that he wouldn't rip or tear it while training with Noct, but at least the inside of the Forge would be warm enough to keep him from getting frostbite.

He was half right. The forge wasn't warm, it was stiflingly hot. Kikaku-San and Yone-San were working the forge, creating new weapons, while the Forgemaster watched over them. Upon seeing them enter, her eyes widened and she quickly knelt for the prince. She said something in their native language, to which Noct replied easily before the Forgemaster motioned for her apprentices to stop their work. They then noticed Noct and 'eeped,' with Kikaku-San almost dropping a red-hot sword.

Noct continued speaking with the Forgemaster before she motioned them over to a table where his new weapon lay. "Here, do you like?"

The weapon obviously looked the same as the day before, but with new markings on it. On the blue End Cap was a stylized gold star, and on the golden knob was a blue star, causing both ends of the bat to oppose each other. All along the barrel were the smaller symbols that were inside the triangles and pentagram of the star, along with stylized tiny birds. Or phoenixes, he supposed. "Aw man, this looks awesome!"

"My thanks," the Forgemaster grinned. "I have Soul-Forged it already, is up to you to power it."

When he looked at it with a confused gaze, Noct explained. "Give it a pulse of PSI." He made a tiny 'Ah' noise and grasped the handle. He breathed in and out, before letting out a small amount of raw PSI, causing all of the etchings to begin to glow white, before fading. There was a faint whisper in the back of his mind, even fainter than when the Hawk-Eye was acting as his Danger Sense, but other than that, his weapon didn't speak.

"What you think? Give it swing!" He motioned for Noct to grab Willow and took a step back so he wouldn't hit anything or anyone, before settling into a batter's stance. He closed his eyes and imagined himself standing at home plate, wearing his baseball uniform with the team colors displayed proudly. He shifted his grip, both hands clenching tightly around the leather wrappings. The baseball was sailing towards him, a fastball, dead center, he wound up, lifting his foot, shifting his hips, and swung. He heard the _whiff _of wind as his bat cut through the air with devastating force, and he knew that anything that was hit by that swing would be obliterated, sent flying, or both. He opened his eyes and grinned, twirling the bat and laying it on his shoulder. "Home run."

Noct snorted, "I'm sure. In any case, what shall you name it?"

He looked down at the bat, the symbols all along it glowing with inner power, and remembered some weird poem his baseball coach had read to the team before a big game one day, of a cocky batter who threw the game through pride and hubris. He wouldn't let that happen, but he did remember the adjectives used to describe the man and his swinging bat and knew that his weapon was probably the only bat worthy of a title like that. "Casey."

Noct almost seemed disappointed. "Casey?"

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing… I suppose I simply expected something more… awe-inspiring."

"Alright, asshole, what would you come up with? Something as corny as 'Faithkeeper?'" The Forgemaster choked on her saliva at his blatant disrespect of Noct and the Sword of Kings, but the prince merely smirked at him.

"It is certainly more impressive than a woman's name. Why not Dawnguard? Or Starstrike?"

"Oh wow, those sound like the final weapons in a cringy JRPG. Why not Demonspawn or Godslayer at this rate? With this bat, I shall strike down god himself and fight my way through the orders of angels guarding heaven's gates! Ain't that the plot of every Japanese video game?"

"That's heresy," Noct snickered. The two apprentices looked lost at this point until Willow's giggling interrupted their argument. "Ah, you're finally awake."

"You got caught trying to cross the border, right?" Willow shot him a flat glare, and he held up his hands, smirking. "Alright, alright. C'mon, we've got my weapon now, you can put in your order."

"Gotcha," she nodded, stretching as she cracked her neck. Noct turned to the Forgemaster and gestured to Willow and her pan, causing the Forgemaster to nod before turning to the girl.

"Any specific requests for pan weapon? And Soul-Forging?"

"Nah, not really. Maybe something to help with destruction PSI? Fire and Thunder and things?"

"I can make it work."

"Oh, and pink!"

"She likes pink," He blandly answered the Forgemaster's confused glance.

"You noticed, Sapphy?" She giggled and twirled, making him snort and Noct roll his eyes.

"Come, we must return to our practice. I'm certain that Andonuts-Sensei is longing for our return as well."

"That pompous blond longs for nothing," he smirked, "but he might have gotten bored with no explosions happening around him while he works on his stuff." They walked out of the forge, and he immediately shivered as the cold mountain air washed over him, and the warmth of the forge died. "Ah shit…"

Willow giggled, before apparently realizing he was shirtless and doing a double-take. "…Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"I didn't want it to be damaged while fighting Noct."

"Uh-Huh. And you carried me piggyback to the forge?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh-Huh." She blushed and looked away. He turned to Noct with a confused glance, but the older boy simply looked away, trying a failing to hide a smirk.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"I am so confused right now…"

* * *

"Today, we'll be working on your Telepathy and Telekinesis."

"Finally! I don't have to have my ass beat again!" Noct just rolled his eyes as Sapphire sighed in relief.

"Yes, yes. Telepathy and Telekinesis require more mental training than physical. This means meditation more than battle."

"Oh joy." He shook his head and sat down with Noct.

"Let's start with Telepathy. Now, you said you used Telepathy before?"

"Yeah, when we first met Anthony. But I didn't initiate it, Willow called me a signal booster."

Noct tilted his head before felt a twinge at the edge of his mind, like when the prince had learned English by reading his mind. "I see… it seems your Telepathy is slightly different from mine or Willow's. You somehow have a massive range and can communicate with anyone whether they're PSI sensitive or awake, but it's more difficult for you to initiate the Telepathy with said people."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not certain. It could be part of the reason that you can interact with Sanctuaries… in any case, we would normally start with training you to talk with people further away, but with your natural talent for that, we'll start with communion in general."

And so, his training began. Somehow, the mental training was more exhausting than the physical, or at least it seemed that way, and by the time they broke for food, his mind was exhausted. They stumbled into a private dining hall that Noct always ate in, having grown tired of people interrupting his meals just to stare at him in awe or something of the sort. If it was important business he'd allow it, and he was fine with his subjects seeing him as he'd soon be their king, but when it was time to eat, he liked to eat.

When he plopped down he didn't even bother to sit straight and just let his head slam into the table, groaning. He heard Willow giggled and pat him on the head, while Anthony just chuckled. "Having fun training?"

"…" he didn't even have the energy to throw back one of his usual quips, causing the genius blond to laugh.

"Man, he's out of it. Noct-San, the hell have you been doing?"

"Mental training, as you can see, is taxing. He's gotten by with powering up due to fighting Giygas' minions and letting Willow use him as a signal booster, but to meet his full potential he must train."

At the mention of Giygas, the mood grew a touch more serious. He raised his head slightly, laying on his cheek so he could look at everyone. "Speaking of… I know I shouldn't rush training or whatever, but shouldn't we get back to finding those Sanctuaries? I don't want to be caught off guard if Giygas' full invasion suddenly started, like, tomorrow. Please keep patting my hair, it feels nice…"

Willow giggled some more and ran her fingers through his hair, blowhole nodding at his words. "I agree with Sapphy. Training our powers is nice and all, but we should be ready for anything, Nocty."

"Unfortunately, I know you're both correct." Noct stabbed at some of the meat on his plate with a dark look in his eyes. "As soon as Polestar-San gets her new weapon, if it's early in the day we'll leave by the afternoon. If it's late, the next day. Hopefully, that'll give Polestar-San enough to time to have reached the Omega levels of her abilities, and you, Master, have nearly mastered instinctually moving PSI throughout your body. You'll most likely have mastered it by then."

"Great, then we'll be done with those bouts where you beat my ass black and blue." Everyone either snickered or laughed at his words and he rolled his eyes. "I can do mind-fuckery now, I'll remind you all. Laugh at me at your own risk."

"I'll laugh at you all I please," Anthony snorted.

"You asked for it." He focused and saw the mental plain around him, and reached forward to speak and see into Anthony's thoughts.

"_Coffee is just bean smoothie."_

He jumped back out of his head and looked at Anthony with an incredulous stare. "What in god's name was that logic?"

"It's simple, beans are ground up and you add milk. Coffee is bean smoothie."

"He's not wrong," Willow murmured, "and it did get you out of his head."

"Alright, I'm forever done with Telepathy. The Bean Smoothie Event has forever ruined it for me."

"No wait, read my mind again, I was going to confuse you completely with scientific jargon."

"Yeah, hard pass…"

"Oh, oh, read my mind!" Willow closed her eyes hard and stuck her tongue out, thinking hard. He rolled his eyes and reached out with his mind, trying to read her thoughts.

"_In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost… head, shoulders, knees, and toes! Turn up your nose, strike that pose! HEY MACARENA!"_

"I have no words. Just none." He shook his head, but a few chuckles escaped his mouth.

"Perhaps we should finish eating and get back to training," Noct chuckled, "rather than mess around in each other's heads."

He just groaned in response.

* * *

"Ready Willow?"

"Yepperoni!"

"What?"

"That means 'yes' in Willow-speak," Sapphire explained.

"Right…" Noct rolled his eyes. "In any case, the purpose of this exercise is to try and find what your Gift is. I have Mirror and Sapphire has Hope, but I don't believe you've ever found yours."

"Right…"

Noct waved a hand at the stone golems at the other end of the courtyard, "Summon up your PSi energy and try and realize your Gift to destroy the statues."

"How do I find my GIft?"

"Gifts are instinctual, I'm not quite sure how you haven't already unlocked yours, but by focusing your PSI with the intent to unlock it, you should be able to unleash it."

"I wonder what Willow's gift would be?" Anthony hummed and adjusted his glasses.

Willow stood there and focused as he shrugged. "I dunno. Mirror and Hope are both pretty unique abilities… what could hers be? PSI Cheerfulness?"

"That'd be an odd ability." They turned back to Willow, who was still standing there, though with a glow under her skin now. "Something should have happened by now, correct?"

"Something should have occurred, yes." Noct narrowed his eyes. "PSI is triggered by will and intent. By intending to unlock your PSI it should have occurred by now. What could possibly…"

"Hey, Sapphire, I just thought of something… wouldn't her one ability be considered a Gift? Remember, she used it back in Threed."

Before he could answer, the energy around Willow turned green before vines burst up from beneath the statues and entangled them. Noct blinked. "Vines. Didn't see that one coming."

"Are vines a Gift?"

"No…" Noct rubbed his chin. "That would be PSI Nature, that can't possibly be her Gift. A new ability is useful, but it's not her Gift."

"Um, like I was saying, isn't her Gift that ability she used where a light shone down on the pile of puke? The one she said is random?"

They all looked at Willow, who looked away and nodded. "It's called Prayer. PSI Prayer… I already told Sapphire and Anthony, but when I use it, I can't control what happens. It's why I never use it."

"Wait, so what happened just now?"

Willow blushed, "Uh, well I accidentally used it… and then those vines popped up…" Anthony facepalmed, and he snickered.

"Willow, I remember telling you that you didn't have to use Prayer if you didn't want to. If it gave you some kind of new PSI ability then you can stick to that instead, right Noct-San?"

"Correct. A random ability like your Prayer Gift, while having beneficial uses, is not very reliable."

"Sorry, I just didn't want to disappoint you all as the only person without a useful Gift…"

"I don't even have a Gift," Anthony cut in, "so I don't know what you're worried about. Feeling useless and trying not to disappoint everyone was supposed to be my character arc."

Willow giggled and nodded. "Right. So, PSI Nature?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a PSI ability that allows you to control plant life. Trees, vines, flowers, if it's organic and a plant, you can control it."

"That doesn't sound very useful. The flowers part, anyway, controlling vines and trees sounds good, though. It seems to be a form of chlorokinesis."

"Anthony, have you ever seen a sunflower? Those shits are fucking scary. They're several feet tall, actually, physically turn to face the sun, and stare into your goddamn soul. If I saw a sunflower start sprinting at me I'd immediately burn everything in a ten-mile radius before moving to the opposite side of the planet."

"…alright, I can't fault you for that." Seriously. What was God thinking when he made those abominations?

Noct chuckled before nodding at Willow. "Alright, go ahead. Try using Nature."

The girl cracked her fingers, before concentrating. Once again she was surrounded by a green glow, before the vines around the stone statues constricted, causing cracks to form before the statutes shattered completely. "Whoa!"

"Never underestimate a PSI power. Controlling vines may sound weak at first, but when you can crush diamond with them?" Noct just smiled and shrugged.

"This is gonna be awesome! I've got a super cool power that neither of you two have!"

"Well, considering both of us could learn it if need be, that's not totally accurate…" he snickered at her pout. "Don't worry, I think it fits you. I won't bother learning it, I'll stick with my own abilities for now. Besides, PSI Nature fits someone with Willow as their name, right?"

"What does my name have to do with nature?"

Anthony blinked. "You… do know that there's a type of tree known as the willow tree, right?"

"Whoa, really?" The blond boy threw his hands up in disbelief as he and Noct laughed.

"In any case," the prince said between chuckles, "I believe it's about time we check with the Forgemaster on your new weapon. With how early in the morning it currently is, I suggest we leave right afterward. We'll resume our expedition into Deep Darkness then."

"Sounds good to me," he nodded. "Although, I might head home quickly to check up on my mom and sis. Seeing all those people kidnapped at Stonehenge got me a bit worried. I know I talked with them on the phone, but seeing them safe in person would really ease my worries."

"Understandable, Master. With Teleport you'll be able to get there and to Deep Darkness within minutes not counting however much time you spend with your family. We can work on PSI Nature at Deep Darkness."

"And I'll continue to work on my machines as I wait for them to get the new pan. I've made quite a few bottle rockets in the meantime, and I think I'm nearing a breakthrough on how to power up my cannon further…"

"Nice. You keep working on that then. I'll head home, check up on them, then head to Tenda Village. See y'all there!" After they nodded he turned and charged up, running towards a wall before Teleporting just before he impacted with a flash of light.

* * *

**Is a chapter filler if it's training and lore? I assume actual filler is usually for anime and stuff when the show has caught up with the manga and they need to make up some stuff until the manga has a new chapter out and stuff. **

**Anyway, a new weapon, new PSI, and training. I love coming up with PSI abilities. The next chapter will also be Willow's pan. I'm sure most of y'all know the Casey bat is a reference to that one poem, Casey at the bat, and it's why it has such high damage yet low accuracy. Thought I'd get a bit more creative than just 'it was dropped by a pile of barf.'**

**Speaking of bosses, I'm taking a bit of time with writing the Electro Spectre because its so... plain. Its attacks are boring, it looks boring, and making the battle is difficult because of that. At least the previous bosses I made jokingly easy, but the Electro Spectre, even if it looks plain, still is a bit intimidating for a few Thirteen-year-olds. I'll come up with something.**

**And of course, I once again go more in-depth with the religion and Dalaam's connection to it. Like I said in the last chapter, I love fantasy religions because you can do whatever you want with them. Engraving items with godly symbols allows them to channel power? Hell yeah brother. Religious items like the Hawk-Eye giving you voices in your head? Of course. And coming up with heroes and gods is fun too, like Ra-Theris and Raco-Therisis. **

**I'm not taking inspiration from any one religion in particular, besides, of course, Egyptian, since that's what the Scarabians are based on, but even then it's not much, really the clearest connection is the river of life. The Egyptians believed their dead traveled through the Duat, a region that the sun god Ra traveled through every night from west to east, where they would pass multiple challenges and the Weighing of the Heart as they were judged. No big difference there, even if I didn't get too deep into it in the chapter.**

**And I used the Phoenix as his symbol, believe it or not, simply because of what the mythical bird represents. I sometimes forget what my username on the site is since on other sites I use a different username or my real one, lol. Although, as said, it's more the Egyptian concept of the Phoenix, the Bennu. **

**Either way, review with what you liked or simply a 'nice chapter.' Both are great to read.**

**See y'all next time!**


	29. Chapter 29: Lighting the Path

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Lighting the Path

He slowed down outside his house, making sure not to trip over any rocks or grass in their garden. After coming to a safe stop, he walked forward and knocked on the door. This time, it was his little sister who answered, and she immediately brightened up upon seeing him. "Big bro!"

"Hey, Trace." He chuckled and hugged her as she jumped at him, patting her head. "It's nice to see you in person."

"It's only been a few days since you were last here, though! Not that I'm complaining."

"Yeah, I guess so." He walked inside and looked around. "Why aren't you at school, by the way? I hope you're not skipping." If it had been late in Dalaam, it should have been around nine or ten in Onett.

"It's Sunday, duh!"

"Oh, alright." He looked over as his mother walked out of the kitchen, holding two plates of pancakes.

"Who was it? Oh, Sapphire!"

"Howdy, mom." Tracey skipped over to the table and sat down, while his mother placed down the plates before hugging him. "I'm not staying to eat or anything, just wanted to drop by."

She let go and looked down at him in confusion. "…Are you alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You seem… different. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, everything's fine. Just… I was worried about you two, so I wanted to check-in. I should get going soon."

"You won't stay, Big Bro?"

"Sorry, like I said, I can't…" he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Besides, I've gotta meet up with my friends soon, so…"

"Well, that's alright. Stay safe, okay? Oh, why not grab some spare clothes from your room? I'm sure you must dirty them a lot." Not a bad idea, considering his only clothes got torn up, disinterested, repaired, then dirtied again within only a few days.

"Alright, be back down in a second." He jogged up the stairs to his room, moving towards his dresser. He grabbed a spare striped shirt and another pair of shorts and stuffed it inside his bag. It didn't fit for a moment, and he had to jostle around his other clothing before it could zip up the bag. As he turned to leave he spotted a book on his shelf he'd bought for one of his shy friends, for their birthday. Remembering the Tenda's… well, tendency to be shy, he grabbed it as well. His friend's birthday wouldn't be for a while anyway.

He hopped down the stairs, and Tracey ran up to him with King. "Come on, if you can't stay then I want to at least escort you out!"

"Have you finished eating?"

"Uhh…"

He snorted. "Alright, fine. C'mon, let's get going. Bye mom, love ya! Hey, King, you taking care of Trace?"

(Of course,) King huffed, (I'm the reason she gets to school safely each day!)

"Heh, good dog." When they got outside, he stretched, making sure he was holding the book firmly since it wouldn't have fit in his bag, before getting into a runner's stance. "Alright, stand back."

"Oh, oh, is this the magic stuff you use?!"

"Yep! Alright Trace, love you! See ya!" He started running and energy swirled around him as he focused on Tenda Village, before he suddenly appeared inside the caves. Of course, with how small the caves were he didn't have time to slow down and slammed into a wall. "FUCK!" A small explosion went off, and he was tossed onto his back covered in soot.

He got up and rubbed his head, looking around to see several Tenda staring at him from around several corners with either concern or fear. "Uh… sorry!" Most of them popped back into the shadows, with only a few hanging around. "Um, do you guys have, like, a chief or something? I'd like to talk to him or her."

One of them nodded and pointed down a stone hall. "T-that way…"

"Thanks. If my friends show up before I get back, can you show them which way I went?" It nodded, and he followed its directions through the caves. At the end of the hall were several more Tenda, plus a large boulder. They all looked the same and they all shied away from him, so he just spoke as softly as possible. "I have a… gift, for the chieftain person? It's a book on overcoming shyness. I thought it'd be a nice gift for letting us stay for free."

One of the Tenda stepped forward, and the only difference he could see between it and the others was its small horns. "Oh? This would be very helpful to us Tenda… I'll make good use of this."

"Yeah, I hope you do." He watched as the Tenda ran out, clutching the book, and he sighed as he lay back against the boulder.

"Um, please be careful!" He blinked and turned, seeing a Tenda hiding behind the boulder. "Uh… there are monsters in a hole down there, so we blocked it off with the boulder. Please don't accidentally move it."

Monsters? Well, they didn't have any other leads on the island, and even if it didn't lead to a Sanctuary, they could at least protect the Tenda by wiping out the creatures. "Me and my friends could take care of them if you'd like."

"…really?"

"Sure, yeah." He eyed the boulder, trying to find the best angle to lift it from, before grabbing it and pulling. He yelped in surprise when it turned out to be nowhere near as heavy as he thought it was, before remembering he could rend metal with a punch due to his PSI. Simply lifting a boulder wasn't that much of a challenge compared to that. He placed it aside and looked down the hole, but he couldn't seem to find a bottom. "That's… deep." At least it's had a ladder he could climb down.

"Heeeeyyy!" The sudden yell almost caused him to fall forward into the pit, but he caught himself in time. He turned to see his fellow Chosen approaching, with Willow's new pan hanging from the sash around her waist. It, like Faithkeeper and Casey, had a black handle, but instead of brown leather on said handle, it was pink. The metal of the pan was gold, with a large etching in the shape of a stylized sun on the back of the pan, with smaller different etchings inside the pan.

"I see you've got your new weapon. Although, even if it's magic, it's not exactly a weapon. Even a bat is better than a frying pan," he spoke, grinning.

"Oh please, you might send things flying with your bat, but I can hand out Vibe-Checks." Willow stuck her tongue out, and the rest of them rolled their eyes.

"Anyway, I heard from the Tendas… Tenda? Tendai? Whatever, there are monsters down this hole that they'd been blocking with a boulder. Think we should check it out? There could be a Sanctuary down there."

"Perhaps… yes, I think it would be beneficial. It is possible that Pokey traversed down to where this hole leads from a different entrance. Or maybe not. But if there is a chance of the next Sanctuary being down there, we should take it."

"Yep! I agree!" Noct just nodded along with Willow.

"Alright, let's get going, then." Of course, before they could, the Tenda Chief came back and handed him something that looked oddly like a durian.

"This is Tendakraut. It stinks, but it is good. I give it to you as thanks."

"Oh, cool. Yeah, thank you." When it walked away he winced at the smell and stuck it in his bag before opening his mouth, until he got interrupted again.

"Pictures taken instantaneously!"

"Ugh… I thought you were finally gone…"

"Nah! I only take group photos now, so you've all gotta be in them!"

"Who exactly is this?" Noct mumbled.

"I feel like we've all given up on knowing and are just going along with this nonsense."

"Now, say Fuzzy Pickles!" A snap and a flash, and they were gone.

"Anyway, now! Let's get going!"

They shimmied down the rope, eventually coming to a small room with a deep onyx colored rock and an opening into the rock to the right. "Weird lookin' rock, isn't it?"

(And you're a weird looking human.) Sapphire blinked and massaged his head.

"And now we have sentient rocks…"

"A sentient rock? Is this that… PSI Earth thing?"

(No, I've always been a talking rock. But the other rocks around here don't talk that much.)

"Well duh, most rocks aren't capable of speech."

(That's true,) the rock admitted. It probably would have shrugged, if it could. (There's actually a rock that talks a lot at the deepest part of the labyrinth a ways ahead… in the Lost Underworld.)

"Great, more mazes," Anthony groaned.

(You should talk to the rock if you find it.)

"We'll keep it in mind," Sapphire nodded. "Alright guys, let's get going."

The next few passages through the caves were, as the rock had said, labyrinthian. They had to continuously backtrack whenever they reached a dead end, They paused as a whirring sound they associated with Giygas' robot troops drew close, and they quickly hid. An orb of deep black and purple suddenly shot past them, waving through the air erratically with no clear pattern in its movement.

It turned and saw them, revealing it wore a wide grin like the spheres in Dusty Dunes Desert, before it shot towards them. A beam of energy from Anthony's cannon buffeted it, allowing Noct to run up and slice it cleanly in two. It hovered unmoving for a moment before Sapphire knocked him out of the way. "Look out, they explode!" It went off a moment later, and a wave of heat and shrapnel washed over him, but thanks to the previous days of training, his body was ready and barely a scratch appeared.

Several more spheres shot into view from around several corners and flew towards them while spewing flames. Willow put up a wall of ice around her and Anthony, while he lit up his hand with a Flash and blasted it forward. The sphere he'd targeted dodged, its odd flying patterns impossible to predict before it slammed into his stomach. He grunted but took the opportunity to get a hit in by winding up and _smashing _the sphere back. He wasn't exactly sure how the symbols on Casey would increase his strength and endurance, but he felt it in his bones that this hit was one of the strongest he'd ever dished out.

The sphere clearly felt the hit too, with how its metal shell completely shattered, and its inner workings completely fell apart as it impacted with a cave wall before exploding. The other spheres were slightly damaged from the heat and the shrapnel before a massive wall of fire washed over them thanks to Willow. The spheres began melting, revealing the electronics inside them that Noct lit up with a blast of Thunder from Faithkeeper as her runes glowed yellow.

"Willow, wall them off!" Another wall of ice sprang up, separating them from the spheres that just barely exploded a moment later. The wall cracked and slivers of ice splintered off, but otherwise, they were safe from the eruptions. Once they were sure they were done self-destructing, Willow melted the wall and they were able to continue onwards.

They continued to find dead-ends as they continued onwards, fighting more of the spheres, orange versions of the cannon-fodder enemies they'd fought at Belch's Base, and several people coated with electricity like within the Pink Cloud Sanctuary. As they reached another dead end after defeating another electrified man, they found something new. Noct dodged a thunderbolt by rolling and blocked another with his gauntlets before he stepped in next to the prince and vaporized the man with a blast of Flash.

Although this time, something stayed behind, instead of vaporizing completely. It looked somewhat similar to a crown and fell to the ground with a clang. He raised an eyebrow and bent down to scoop it up, looking over the now-familiar runes and symbols etched onto the golden crown, with a few jewels. "Hey, don't these look like Dalaam and Scarabian symbols?"

"Truly?" Noct took it and looked it over. "Huh… This is the Diadem of Kings. Why was an Electrified Man wearing it?"

"That is kinda weird, but I guess we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. If it's more equipment for you, then wear it." Noct nodded and gingerly placed it on his head, the runes glowing slightly before fading.

They continued, climbing ladders and dropping down holes as they made their way through the natural rock labyrinth until he felt a familiar twinge at the edge of his mind. "There's a Sanctuary nearby… and a Sanctuary Guardian."

"There's always a Guardian," Anthony snorted while rolling his eyes. "Can you lead us to it?"

"Yeah, I think I should be able to." He closed his eyes and focused, trying to find the location of the Sanctuary. It was a little below them, forward, maybe a touch left? He began walking, following the pathways that best matched the direction, before they finally reached a large room with a gray object sat in the center.

The second they entered however, the gray object rumbled and stood, revealing itself to be some kind of seven-foot-tall statue that looked vaguely like something you'd see in a modern art museum. When it spoke, it's voice was stilted and slow. "You have finally arrived. This is the seventh of Your Sanctuaries. Take it from me, if you dare."

"Let's get this over with quick," he spoke, charging up. Hope γ!"

"Fire Ω!"

"Thunder Ω!"

"Launching!"

Three different PSI abilities were launched, as well as a Bottle Rocket, impacting with the grey creature. Instead of heavily damaging it, however, the PSI attacks completely fizzled out, only damaging the ground around it, while the Bottle Rocket simply made it take a step back and form a small crack in its body.

"Oookay." The Guardian stomped forward, raising an arm covered in sudden electricity and swinging at them. "Willow, Magnet it, get rid of its shield! Shield γ!"

"Got it! PSI Magnet α!" As the arm came down he covered Willow with a Shield to protect her from the blow, while she used Magnet to absorb the electricity and the shield covering the thing. The damage reflection from Shield Gamma caused it to stumble back, where Noct met it and sliced upwards, scratching its metal leg from ankle to knee. He quickly rolled away before it could smack him, flipping to his feet.

"It seems resistant to Faithkeeper."

"Well, let's see about blunt force trauma!" He ran forward and twirled Casey around his hand, before winding up and _smashing _the Guardian in the stomach. It barely stumbled, even as another crack appeared in its body. He jumped back as it swiped at him, and Noct nodded.

"Ah, no, it's all forms of physical damage."

"Yeah, I noticed!" It charged up with electricity, before blasting out several Thunderbolts. "Willow, throw a PSI Shield on over everyone!" He stood his ground and let the lightning hit him and get absorbed into the Franklin Badge, but as the lightning storm covered the whole cave he couldn't protect his teammates who Willow barely covered with a PSI Shield in time. He pushed PSI into Casey to power up, before jumping up and landing a blow on the Guardian's head who seemed confused about why they weren't piles of ash.

Several cracks spread through its head as it stumbled, before Willow ran behind it and whacked it on the back of its knees, lighting up the symbols on her pan bright red, and using a fire infused strike to send it off balance. It crashed down with a slow growl before the ground where it landed began glowing.

Noct had implanted his blade into the ground and the runes upon it were glowing the same flame red color as the ground. "Inferno γ!" The red spot beneath the Guardian glowed brighter before a pillar of fire erupted from the ground and engulfed it.

"Whoa, holy shit!"

"What a unique version of your Pyrokinesis abilities… oh, I should attack while its vulnerable!" Anthony cut off his murmurs and hunkered down, readying another rocket and firing upwards, before it spiraled down and detonated.

The heated body of the Guardian was weaker, and more cracks spread throughout it from that rocket than the first. As it attempted to get back up, he planted both hands on its now warm body, channeling Hope into it. Its body began glowing before several beams of light exploded out of it.

It groaned again and swiped at him, sending him skidding away as he took the blow before a beam of energy from Anthony's cannon blasted through its core. It took a shaky step and looked down to see the large circular hole in its center of mass, before Willow jumped forward and commanded several vines to erupt from the ground and entangle its limbs, binding tighter and tighter until it fell to its knees, letting him wind up and deliver a _smash _attack directly to its blocky head.

Its body leaned back as its head was completely separated and flew off into the cave wall, shattering, before the body suddenly surged forward and ripped through the vines holding it down and backhanded him into another wall. "What the hell? This thing can fight even without its head!? I even hit it with a Hope γ!"

It charged up and blasted out a lightning storm that covered the whole room in deadly electricity, causing three of the Chosen Four to grit their teeth as the PSI Shields barely held off most of the lightning, while the Franklin Badge took Sapphire's attack, mixing it with the first and blasting it back.

"We…" Anthony grit his teeth, the PSI Shield the only thing keeping him conscious through the lightning storm, besides his willpower. "We'll have to destroy the entire body at once!"

"Sounds like a job for me!" He grinned before the statue-like Guardian swiped at him and caused him to roll away. "Get me an opening, I'll shatter it to pieces!"

"Freeze Ω!" Willow let loose a stream of air at Absolute Zero, flash freezing the Guardian's lower body, with Noct doing the same only with the gamma level of Freeze.

The Guardian struggled, the ice on its legs cracking, before Noct unleashed a focused wave of Fire γ, heating its upper body. The metal on its stomach, around the hole, warped and twisted as the heat and cold fought before he took the opening his teammates had given him and Warped forward, appearing in said hole and slamming both hands against its metallic body. "Hope γ!" He made sure to keep pumping energy into it, not just one blast. Its body flashed brightly, blues, reds, and yellows lighting up the cave before its weakened body couldn't handle the flow of power and detonated.

Metal flew everywhere as its body blew apart, some melting, and others still covered in ice. Tinkling sounded out as the pieces fell to the ground, and he straightened up. He took a deep breath before letting gold light flow to his palms. "Alright, who needs some healing?"

"I feel slightly jittery from the shocks the Guardian gave off," Anthony spoke up, twitching slightly.

"Lifeup ɑ." The light washed over Anthony, and when he turned to Willow and Noct they both just shook their heads.

"All good!"

"I can keep going."

"Alright, I guess we keep going then. The Sanctuary is… below us? Look out for any holes or paths leading down."

"I'm sure we'll find something!" They kept moving, walking through the caves until the ground under Anthony fell out without ceremony. They all blinked and looked back at the hole the blond had fallen through before Noct peeked his head through.

"Andonuts-Sensei, are you alright?"

"Urgh…"

"Yeah, he's fine," he smirked at the Prince. "Cmon, let's get down there. He reinforced his legs and jumped down, landing with a hard thud in a dark room. He saw Anthony slowly getting up and dusting himself off, grimacing before Noct and Willow landed behind him.

"What exactly is this place?"

"Dunno, Noct-San… Well, it's the Sanctuary, I think, but I can't see anything. It's too-" There was a sudden flash of light, and one of the dark walls lit up with small lights moving in a wave-like motion before the wall became dark again. "-dark. Huh."

"Did the wall just light up?"

"Yeah, it was so pretty!"

"Come on, let's check it out." When the wall lit up again, they followed the light, through a singular twisting corridor. Here and there singular lights shone, keeping parts of the hall bright and luminous. Eventually, they reached a larger wall, with lights shining around a single strip where nothing shone. "This is definitely the sanctuary, I can feel it in my bones, but… I don't know where exactly to go to trigger the Sound Stone."

As he looked around, Anthony nudged him. "I think I've found something…" They all turned, and saw that the dark strip on the wall had… words? Moving across it. He shook his head as he watched, thinking that it was a bit freaky.

'_This wall is pretty freaky… I wonder how it works?'_

Was the wall questioning how it itself worked? Weird.

'_Was the wall questioning how it itself worked? Weird.'_

Looks like the wall agreed- wait, that was a perfect mirror of his thoughts!

'_The wall thing is agreeing with me, pretty cool… wait, it just perfectly mirrored my thoughts! Uh, that one was a bit off, though…'_

"It's mirroring our thoughts? Whose?"

"They are not mine."

"Mine either!"

"Yeah, if it were mirroring your thoughts then the wall would be a lot dumber."

'_Man, Ant can be blunt sometimes. But I like that, he never hesitates to speak his mind.'_

"Sapphire? It's copying your mind?"

"I… guess so? I mean, it looks like it."

'_I… guess so? I mean, it looks like it.'_

"Why is it copying my speech too, and not just my thoughts?"

He ignored the wall as Anthony hummed. "It may be because we usually think of what we're saying as we say it unless we're multitasking."

"That… kind of makes sense? But why is it copying me?"

'_That… kind of makes sense? But why is it copying me?'_

"It may be because it is your Sanctuary. They are all connected to your mind, so this one, with its ability to show thoughts, picked up on yours over all of ours…"

"Makes sense."

'_Makes sense. Noct always knows his stuff when it comes to PSI.'_

"Wait, it said more than I did!"

"Everyone thinks thoughts after a sentence, something they either chose not to or just don't want to say."

"Weird…"

"_Weird… and cool!"_

He suddenly felt the Sound Stone heat up and reached into his pocket to hear it beginning the seventh melody. It was quick and short, but still as beautiful as the rest of the melodies. In the end, he saw a vision… he was looking up at his father as a baby, being cradled carefully in his arms. "_I know you'll have a pure heart, and a strong will to always do what's right…" _The vision snapped to a new place, a small volcanic area, fire spouting from black, glassy obsidian and magma spurting from a small hill and pooling in one area.

He stumbled and shook his head, feeling the image become burned into his mind. He felt something new this time as well. It was a sense of apprehension, glee, and… it was hard to describe… endings? What the hell did endings even feel like? Then he noticed the feelings were coming from somewhere deeper inside his psyche. In other words, they weren't his emotions, but Nightmare's. What did it mean where he could feel the creature's emotions so strongly right now, when he wasn't feeling anything negative at all? Were… the Sanctuaries strengthening Nightmare as well as him? It would make some twisted sense, Nightmare was his darkness, so anything that strengthened him would strengthen Nightmare…

No, he wouldn't focus on that now. Nothing he could _do _about it now. He'd deal with Nightmare when he finally attempted whatever he was going to try. He vaguely remembered something about a place called Eden. That'd probably be where Nightmare will finally try taking him over completely or something, so he should just be ready if they ever go someplace named that. He snapped back to reality as Willow began humming the melodies, and twirling around while giggling.

'_Her voice is really pretty. Just like she is.'_

Oh shit. He forgot about the wall. Anthony began snickering and raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey, Sapphire, want to play truth or dare?"

"NO!"

'_No!'_

"Alright, do you want to date Willow?"

Willow stopped spinning and stared at Anthony with wide eyes, as did he.

"Wha-, I mean, that- that's really out of the blue man, I can't just…"

'_I wouldn't mind. She's super sweet, and always fun to be around, and I love spending time with her-'_ he ignored the wall and glared at Anthony who still had a massive shit-eating grin on his face. Luckily, Willow hadn't glanced at the wall. Noct was simply watching the whole thing with an amused smirk. "You can't just randomly ask people these questions!" Willow shrieked embarrassed, holding her blushing cheeks.

'_Holy shit that's cute. I'm destroying this wall when we're done here and killing Ant.'_

He launched forward and wrapped his arms around Anthony, putting him in a headlock even as Anthony continued to laugh. "You've sealed your death sentence, peasant. Willow, commence the tickles!" Willow grinned maliciously and leaped forward, waving her fingers over Anthony's ribs. The blond immediately began howling with laughter, while Noct continued to watch, probably wishing he had a bowl of popcorn. Did Dalaam have popcorn?

After a full minute of torturing the genius of the two blonds, Willow stopped and let Anthony catch his breath as tears dripped down his cheeks. "W… Worth it…"

"Hmph!" Willow turned away and pouted, crossing her arms with her blush still shining bright. "That was really embarrassing, Anty!"

Anthony just let out a few more cackles as he dropped the boy, shaking his head. "I could kill you at any time… I'm the most dangerous thing in this cave."

"You're a pansy," Anthony laughed, "You wouldn't hurt a fly unless it was under Giygas' influence."

"Is that a challenge, mortal?"

Anthony just rolled his eyes, while Noct tilted his head. "Master, you are a mortal as well, though."

"Yeah, dude, it's called sarcasm."

"Sarcasm?" Noct tilted his head. "Ah, yes, when I learned your language by reading your mind, I remember that word. That seems to be your main form of wit…"

"Hell yeah it is," he smirked.

"But isn't sarcasm the lowest form of wit?"

"Square up, brother," he narrowed his eyes, raising his fists.

"He's got a point," Anthony snickered. "Even before Nightmare began making you pissy and curse all the time, you were incredibly sarcastic." With both boys ganging up on him he just threw his hands in the air in exasperation. He'd show them, someday, how truly beautiful the wonders of sarcasm were. Willow just patted him on the shoulder, shaking her head in sympathy. At least _someone _appreciated his humor!

"Come on, we should get moving. Did you see a vision of the next Sanctuary?"

"Yeah, it looked like a bunch of… magma? Like some kind of pool of lava."

"There's a difference between lava and magma. Lava is the molten rock that has reached Earth's surface through volcanic vents, while magma is molten rock stored within the earth's crust."

"Nerd," He, Willow, and Noct said simultaneously, although Noct with a deadpan look. Anthony just scoffed. Sapphire smirked and turned back to the wall, which was still displaying his thoughts. Oh, he'd forgotten about that… what thoughts had it been displaying during their exchange? Such an odd wall…

The lights on the wall suddenly flashed, before beginning to change color. He blinked in surprise as copies of themselves showed up on the wall, except… not? Each of them had something different. The one that seemed to mirror him had blond hair, along with blue and black mirror versions of his clothes, like his baseball cap, although he couldn't see a shirt since his counterpart had a blue hoodie on. On his back, he also had some kind of sword with a sapphire blue blade and emerald hilt, but he couldn't see if there were any godly or PSI symbols on it.

His companions had similarly odd counterparts, Willow's having a purple dress instead of a pink one, with a blue ribbon instead of a red one. Anthony's counterpart had raven black hair similar to his own instead of flaxen blond like Anthony's, and hazel brown eyes, while his suit looked about the same. Noct's mirror counterpart looked the closest to him, with only slightly tanner skin and hazel eyes instead of deep brown, near black.

Something else that was odd was nobody else could see it. Anthony was arguing with Willow on why he wasn't a nerd while Willow stuck her tongue out at him and Noct watched on. It wasn't even that they didn't notice the mirror, as it was directly in their line of sight, but they just couldn't seem to see the same thing as him. He turned back to the mirror with a mix of interest and confusion. Was this something to do with Giygas or Nightmare? No, when Nightmare did his cosplay bullshit he preferred wearing reds and golds and blacks.

His counterpart in the wall seemed to look at him with the same amount of confusion, along with Willow's counterpart. His counterpart suddenly grabbed Willow's counterpart's hand and kissed her, causing him to blink in shock. What the hell was up with this wall? Was it still picking up on his thoughts or something, or was it making up something completely new? Why would he kiss Willow? Sure she was cute and all, plus like he'd thought earlier she was always fun to be around… Wait, not the point!

His alternate self pointed to Willow and made a heart symbol with his hands. He looked to Willow and then back to the mirror, feeling a large blush rise up. He quickly shook his head rapidly, nope, nope, nope! That would be _WAY _too embarrassing! Why the hell would he randomly kiss Willow like that out of nowhere? Although, thinking back, did Willow like him? She was always touchy and blushed when Anthony asked the dating question earlier… But then again, she was outgoing like that, always being friendly and smiling, and she could have just been embarrassed… Yeah, he should probably just ask her to her face when they got somewhere safe if he even decides to deal with it eventually… probably should.

In any case, his counterpart and Willow's smiled in amusement at his embarrassment and denial and nodded back. He felt his eye twitch and he promptly flipped them off while saying the first thing that came to mind. "Stuff it, you emo bitch-boy." Oh. That was really good, it was threatening and insulting at the same time… Man, he was a genius!

"Sapphy? Did you say something?" He turned to see his friends looking at him, and when he turned back to the wall it was back to displaying his thoughts.

"Uh, no, it's nothing." What did just happen? The wall was only displaying his thoughts in word form before, and it was only thoughts, not his imagination, so where did the blue emo version of himself come from? He did remember Anthony talking about Multiverse theory or whatever, and how there could be infinite versions of himself, either incredibly similar or vastly different, so could that have had something to do with it?

"Multiverse theory? Why are you thinking of that?"

"Uh, nothing, don't worry about it. Come on, we should try and find a way out of here. I don't think we can climb back up that hole."

"Hm… alright, if you say so." They went back to walking through the Luminous Cave, the small lights along the walls keeping it just bright enough to see even when the larger ones went out. When they reached the end of the cave they saw a large hole in the ground, which they couldn't see the bottom of. "This could be a problem…"

"Any ideas on how deep it is?"

"Perhaps… hand me a rock?" He grabbed a decent-sized rock from the ground and handed it to Anthony. "I'll drop this down, and depending on how long it takes for a sound to reach us, we can determine how deep the hole is."

"Cool!"

"'Cool,' indeed." Anthony dropped the rock, and it quickly disappeared into the darkness, while Anthony flicked his hand to look at a small wristwatch he'd hidden on the bottom of his wrist. "One, two, three…" He continued counting, growing more worried when he passed double digits. When he reached the thirties, he shook his head. "Yeah, no, that isn't working."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"If it fell for thirty seconds straight then this hole is more than four thousand yards deep, which is a little less but still over four thousand meters for you Eaglelandians. It's much more likely that there's a large chamber at the bottom, and the sound simply didn't reach us, but we still don't know how deep that chamber is."

"Sapphy has Telekinesis, could he carry us all?"

"I can barely move a human-sized object without getting a migraine, and Warp, no matter how skilled I am in it, can't bring me somewhere that I can't see, or is more than… maybe a few dozen feet away. So I can't even Warp down."

"I have a rope, but it isn't long enough…"

"Why not jump down? Combining our resistance with a PSI Shield could protect us. And someone could carry Ant."

"I'm not sure how your PSI works, but what doesn't kill us isn't the fall, it's the sudden stop. Even with Shield reinforcing my body, it's not going to protect my insides from turning to mush after the sudden stop. Your resistance might help all of you."

"Maybe… could I grow a really long vine to climb down?"

"I suppose? If it was sturdy enough to hold us all, then yes, that could work."

"Great! Nature β!" A sudden rumble shook the cave, before a large root-like vine shot out of the side of the hole, and began lowering down.

"Come on, let's get on!" He walked around the hole and made sure he had a firm grip on the still-growing vine. As he was carried down, he looked up to see Noct using Faithkeeper to stick to the vine, with Anthony situated on his back, and Willow above them—

Oh, she was wearing a dress. He looked down and furiously tried to squash his blush. Wait, was this why Anthony was always blushing after climbing a ladder below Willow?! Gah, head out of the gutter!

The vine continued downwards for what felt like several minutes before they saw a light below them. "Is that more of the Luminous Cave?" Anthony questioned from above.

"I'm not sure." He finally sunk below where the light was shining from and saw what looked to be a cave ceiling completely covered with glowing yellow crystals, similar to the Sanctuary above. But when he looked down, his mind blanked. The entire bottom of the cave, dozens of stories below them, was covered in greenery from trees to grass, and in the distance mountains rose up, some of them scraping the ceiling. Several of the trees below them shook as if something large was making its way through the underground forest. "Y'all seeing this shit?"

"Oh, oh, this is totally an underground forest!"

"But how exactly? There isn't any sunlight down here… perhaps the crystals on the ceiling give off some kind of similar radiation as the sun does? But how would that work?"

The vine eventually reached the forest floor and they were able to get off. He looked in wonder at the vegetation all around them, noting the different kinds of plants he'd never seen before. The flowers were large but didn't seem to be alive like the one me in Deep Darkness. "So… where do we go from here?"

"I believe I saw some form of village to the west," Noct spoke up. "Perhaps we should head in that direction."

"Not like we have any idea on where to go next," he shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

"I concur. It is the best course of action."

"Yeps!"

"Alright then, let's go." They began walking, pushing their way into the underbrush of the underworld.

* * *

They walked for several hours, the underworld going on for miles. "Jeez, this place is huge." A rumble shook the earth, but none of them paid it any attention. After the first few minutes they'd found out that earthquakes happened frequently, and sometimes even caused an underground spring to burst through holes in the ground.

"Maybe we should take a break and Teleport back to Tenda Village? We could come back after we've taken a rest."

"No, everything looks too similar to each other here, if I tried to Teleport back we could appear back at the vine, here, or anywhere in between. We'll have to wait for some kind of landmark."

"I suppose so…" they continued walking. "Say… has this earthquake gone on longer than the last few?"

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Is this place just really unstable?"

"Shh!" Noct suddenly shushed everyone, holding up a hand. They stood still, waiting. He vaguely noted that the earthquake seemed to lessen and strengthen in intensity as it went on, like someone walking. And… was that the sound of crashing trees?

_Danger, behind._

"We should move." He turned around and saw Noct looking up at a very large, deep purple dinosaur. It stood on four legs and seemed to be about two stories tall. Its body was heavily muscled and wide as a barn, with a line of spikes going from the tip of its to the end of its neck, and it looked down at them with drool leaking from a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth the size of baseball bats.

"Oh. Fair point." Contrary to his words they all stood still and nothing happened for a few seconds before it suddenly roared and they all screamed, turning and sprinting away. The monster stomped after them, crushing trees beneath its massive legs.

The sole reason they were able to keep ahead of it was that even for a monster of its size, crushing trees still slowed it down a tad, while they could duck and weave between them. "SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!"

"BOOK IT!"

"Master, keep your breathing calm and level, otherwise you'll run out of—"

"I KNOW HOW TO RUN DAMMIT, GIMME A BREAK WE'RE BEING CHASED BY DINOSAUR!"

Noct was clear in the lead, his training and natural skill meant he was parkouring over roots and even onto tree branches when the ground was too treacherous. He and Willow were more or less even, the PSI that was coursing through their veins and mixing with their adrenaline letting them move swiftly. He could have Warped ahead of even Noct, but he didn't want to be separated. Anthony… was lagging, a few feet behind them.

_Danger, Anthony's fallen._

There was a scream, and he turned to see Anthony trip and the dinosaur lunge its head down towards the boy.

_Not on my watch, bitch. _He Warped, and suddenly he was inside of its mouth as it was opening wide to chomp down. "Try this for a meal! Hope γ!" The monster reared back as the attack blazed down its throat, shredding flesh and bursting blood vessels. But it wasn't down yet. "Hope γ! Hope γ! γ, γ, γ!" He kept blasting, one Hope after another, and quickly Warped out when the monster bit down on reflex to try and kill him.

He appeared and stumbled next to Anthony, quickly grabbing him and throwing him over his shoulders into piggyback position. "Hold on!" And he meant it. He had no idea what Warping with someone would do to them, considering how his own body felt like it was falling apart when he'd first experienced it with the Starman, but with the dinosaur literally feet away and about to eat them, he didn't have time to worry about that.

"Warp α!" He vanished in a flash of blue light and appeared several meters away, just as the dinosaur bit down. It roared in anger as he disappeared, and he felt Anthony clutch him harder and groan in discomfort at the feeling of Warping. "Just bear with it, it gets easier over time! Warp α!" He warped again, catching up with Willow as Noct looked back, waiting for them before turning and resuming his traversal through the trees.

"Master, we must lose it."

"No shit!" He jumped over a fallen, overgrown log, then Warped over a small pool of water. He heard a splash and looked back to see the dinosaur stumble as one of its legs stomped into the pool and it turned out to be deeper than it expected. "It's fallen, gain some distance! Willow, vine it up!"

"Nature β!" the trees around the dinosaur groaned as the vines wrapped around their branches shot out and tangled around the monster's neck and body, while roots exploded up out of the ground with showers of dirt and tangled around its legs. It snarled and pulled, several roots and vines snapping. "I don't think that'll hold it for long!"

"Keep running, find somewhere to hide!" He didn't look back, but he did hear crashing as the dinosaur freed itself from the vine traps, And focused on keeping up with Willow and Noct with Anthony on his back. Anthony groaned again and he checked on him, seeing his body almost fizzle with the remainder of Warp energy on him.

"Look out!" He turned back around and saw that they were approaching a cliff wall that towered over them. It wasn't even a ninety-degree angle wall, but it actually jutted outwards, so climbing it would be impossible. It was also just barely too tall for him to Warp up.

"Willow, how fast can you make a vine carry us up?!"

"I… I don't think I could make one fast enough!"

Another bestial roar and the shaking of the ground signaled the dinosaur closing in. "Fuck… alright, alright…" He set down Anthony, who was beginning to recover from the sensation of Warping and grabbed his gun to shove into his arms. "The moment you see the thing, blast it. Don't stop blasting. Willow, when it breaks through the trees entangle it again and keep doing so, slow it down as much as possible while throwing Fires, Thunders, and Freezes. Noct- Noct-San, what are you doing?" Noct was kneeling at the base of the cliff, looking at something. "Noct-San!"

The Prince was kneeling in front of a skeleton, who was wearing what looked to be dirty and decaying travelers clothes, with a destroyed bag by their side with some old items poking out. Its most interesting item, though, was the cloak on its shoulders, which didn't seem to have rotted like the rest of its clothes at all. "..."

"Noct," he growled, foregoing the honorific, "you need to focus!"

"Ah, Master… Yes, I'm sorry, I'm just… this is the Cloak of Kings… If it was worn by this man, then he was my ancestor who assumed he was the Chosen King of the prophecy… So this is where he died…"

He growled and slapped Noct on the back of the head. "I don't know if you're grieving for him or being melancholy or whatever the hell, but you can do that when we _aren't about to be eaten!" _

Noct shook his head and hardened his gaze. "You're correct, Master." Noct reached out and gripped the cloak, twirling it around before securing it to his shoulders. The runes all along the cloak suddenly glowed, and Noct's eyes flashed with PSI. "I apologize for the moment-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Come on!" He turned back to see the dinosaur crash into the clearing, and roots begin to entangle it just like he'd ordered Willow to do. It tripped and fell, taking a blast from Anthony's Cannon and a Thunder from Willow. It roared, spittle and blood flying from its mouth as it got back up before he ran forward.

He really hoped that this would work, but he didn't have any other ideas. Shooting Hope several times down its throat wounded it, but didn't put it down. It'd need some serious firepower to do that, but neither Willow nor Anthony had a clear shot down its throat to do so. He could think of one idea to get them a good shot. He Warped up above it, and flooded his body and Casey with PSI to reinforce and strengthen himself and the bat, before _smashing _Casey down on its head, Casey's inscriptions glowing brightly.

He honestly didn't expect much, even with his hyper-enhanced strength, but the monster cried out in pain and fell forward, cratering the ground as its jaw slammed down. "Whoa! Alright, hit it!"

"Firing!"

"Freeze Ω!"

The two attacks shot down its throat, damaging it even more. It suddenly reared back and threw him into the air, where he yelped in panic. He looked down to see flames licking at the sides of the dinosaur's jaws, and he felt his eye twitch. This thing could breathe fire too?!

He Warped to the side and began sliding down its back, gripping a scale to halt his momentum. It shook its head around, trying to find him before he Warped off of it and back to safety. "Alright, I'm strong enough to harm and push this thing around… didn't expect that, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth. But how do we kill it?"

"Master." He looked over his shoulder to see Noct preparing himself, the runes on Faithkeeper burning bright. "I have an idea. We have to kill it from within."

"Well duh. That's what we've been trying to do!" The dinosaur stomped forward, and he Warped backward with a grimace. The dinosaur snarled and knocked down some more trees as it closed in, and he quickly powered up a Flash γ in his free hand. He fired it up, and the monster screeched in agony as it was blinded, opening its mouth wide.

"Warp me up there!" He blinked and grabbed Noct's hand, doing as he said and appearing mid-air over its mouth. Noct immediately let go and fell into the dinosaur's mouth.

_What._

"Noct, what the fuck?!" He attempted to Warp down and grab him, but the monster closed its jaws before he could and he growled as he had to Warp away. Shit, now Noct had been eaten. It didn't look like he got chewed in two, so unless dinosaurs had some kind of secondary teeth or some shit in its throat, he was probably still alive in its stomach. "Willow, I need you to—"

He was cut off when the dinosaur stumbled, burping up smoke. It adopted a pained look on its face before it stumbled back. Suddenly, it roared in pain before a pillar of ice shot out of its side. Another appeared through its back before a pillar of fire burned through its stomach. The monster finally stopped moving and crashed down to the ground. Everyone stood still, waiting to see if it was still alive before Faithkeeper slashed through its hide from the inside, and a shower of blood sprang into the air. The Sword moved down to create a flap, and Noct climbed out alongside a river of dark red blood.

The Prince slid down the monster's side, resting Faithkeeper against his shoulder and kneeling before him. "Master, I've disposed of the beast attacking us."

"Uh…"

"Holy shit," Anthony murmured with wide eyes. "What the hell did you do?"

"I attempted to damage it from within, but when that didn't put it down immediately, I simply cut out its heart and let it die from internal bleeding."

"Willow?"

"Yeah?"

"Remind me to never piss of Noct-San."

"Ditto."

* * *

**Not much to say today, I tried to make the most boring Guardian somewhat fun, but meh. At least Carbon/Diamond Dog is more interesting. And I've already finished Sapphire versus Nightmare, the legendary battle for the bod, so I'm interested to see what people think when I publish that chapter.**

**Changed up what shows up on the screen thing at Lumine Hall, since that would really be his first reaction to the wall, 'what the hell is this' and since it shows his thoughts, what followed is what I think would naturally happen. ****I also found _that_ sequence involving Lumine Hall at the end of your chapter great, so I made sure to put in Sapphire's reaction. **

**Speaking of alternate universe stuff, the theme for that one little cliff you can find on the way to the Fire Spring, The Cliff That Time Forgot, gave me so many ideas, since I also love places and things that involve the end/warping of time/reality, and I've written out a fun sequence involving it. I also have several ideas for more creative use of PSI, and new abilities, which should be fun.**

**Anyway, review with everything you liked, or a simple 'nice,' both are great to read.**

**See y'all next time!**


	30. Chapter 30: A World Forgotten

Chapter Thirty: A World Forgotten

"What even is it?"

"It looks like some kind of pendant."

"Yeah, no shit." He rolled his eyes and looked closer. "Are these runes? Like from Soul-Forging?"

"Hm… yes, it seems so. These runes are protective in nature, it seems. Perhaps it's for warding off attacks?"

"Whoa, cool!"

"Yeah. Hey, Ant, you should wear it then. It could probably help protect you like our PSI does us."

"Good idea." The blond took the amulet from him and slipped it over his head, letting it rest on his chest below his clothes.

"Anyway, are we getting closer to that village you saw yet? We've been walking for so loooooong!"

"Yes, Polestar-San, we're almost there. I think. It should be a short walk from here."

"'He thinks,' he says." He rolled his eyes. "It better be soon, I'm getting tired."

Noct's words turned out to be true as they finally exited the forest several minutes later and saw a wall in the distance, built from sharpened logs. "Ah, and there we are," Anthony nodded.

"Cool, let's go check it out." They approached the wall and began circling around searching for an entrance until they found a large wooden gate. He cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting for someone on the other side. "Hello?!"

"Eh?" Suddenly, a Tenda appeared over the gate looking down at them. "Hey, what are you doing inside our dinosaur cage?"

"I'm pretty sure this ain't a cage," he muttered.

"Would you mind opening the gate to let us in?" Anthony questioned, adjusting one of the straps on his bag.

"Well, you do smell good… alright, I'll open the door and get you out of there now!" The large gates opened up, and the Tenda jumped down, hopping over.

"You seem a lot more, uh, confident than the Tenda in Deep Darkness."

"Oh, you know the Tenda up above?" The Tenda sniffed them again and perked up. "Oh, so that's what that smell is! It's Tendakraut!"

He blinked and reached into his bag, grabbing said Tendakraut. "Here, want it? I can't really stand the smell anymore."

"Ah, thank you!" The Tenda quickly grabbed the item and ran back into the wood village.

"Allllright." He turned back to his fellow Chosen and shrugged. "Guess we can go in."

The small village was even smaller than downtown Onett, which usually felt pretty small with how many buildings he ever actually visited when he was younger, like the arcade or burger joint. There were several small straw huts dotted around the enclosure, with a large rock towards one of the back walls of the village.

"This place is… interesting. I assumed they would have more weapons to fight against the dinosaurs."

"Maybe the smell keeps the dinosaurs away," Willow giggled.

"I mean…" Noct sniffed the air and shrugged. "It's not any worse than when the Tendakraut was in my bag. Add unto that, the dinosaur chased us and we smelt pretty bad."

"It could have been extraordinarily hungry."

"Well, either way, when we go back out we won't have the smell covering us even if it did keep dinosaurs away."

"True. Alright, let's find somewhere to rest, I wasted a lot of energy on those Hopes I blasted down the dinosaur's throat."

"I need to rest too… maybe a nap…" Willow yawned and stretched. "Nature doesn't take as much energy as Fire, Frost, or Freeze, but I still used it a lot."

"It's the same for me."

"Alright, we should make sure you all have enough PSI energy then, in case we run into any more dinosaurs."

He waved at a Tenda wandering by to get its attention and squat down. "Hey, do you have anywhere for us to rest? Like an empty room or something?"

"We have a hotel, yeah."

"How the hell do Tenda know what hotels are?" Anthony questioned.

"Hey, the Tenda called that room we stayed in back in Deep Darkness an Inn, I wouldn't question it. Thanks, guy." He made to walk away, before remembering his vision of the next Sanctuary. "Hey, do you know of any places where magma bubbles up nearby? I need to find somewhere like that."

"Hmm… I don't, but the Talkative Rock by the edge of the village probably does! He knows a lot of things!"

"Really?" He turned, and now that he looked closer he thought he could make out a sort of face in the rock. "Cool, thanks. C'mon guys, let's check it out."

"Hey, didn't the other talking rock by the other Tenda village talk about a rock further into the lab… labry…"

"Labyrinth, Polestar-San. And yes. Perhaps this is the one it was speaking of," Noct nodded.

"Right. Yo, rock guy!" He waved as they approached, "we've got a few questions for ya!"

(Finally, you've arrived… Finally, you talk to me. I've waited a long time for you, Sapphire.)

"Wait, you know me?"

(I know of you, the Chosen One, and what the prophecy speaks of.)

"Great, there's that prophecy again," he rolled his eyes.

"I thought we were all 'The Chosen?'" Anthony questioned.

(While this is true, Sapphire himself is the 'Chosen One,' for by visiting the Sanctuaries, he will gain the power to defeat Giygas. You all are companions to him on this journey, your strengths covering his weaknesses, and vice versa.)

"Hold on," he shook his head, "I think I remember Buzz Buzz saying something about this, being the Chosen Boy, but… Well, I guess I was still confused back then and didn't think about it, but does the fate of the world really rest on me reaching the eight Sanctuaries?"

(Not just the world, but the entire universe.)

"Great, so my destiny isn't just my own, but it involves the whole universe?"

(Correct. There will come a time where all of you in the universe will overlap each other. Soon, at the End of Time, all of the Universe will become one. Reality will crumble, time will fail, and space shall distort. Futures that could be, will be, pasts that never were, shall be, and at one point and one time, everything will be connected. It is up to you, using your Gifts, to unite the world and become Bound by your Hearts.)

"...The fuck? The hell do you mean reality will crumble?!"

(It is not important for you to understand now. Now, The Sanctuaries you have visited are spots that give you power, and shall allow you to realize all of your skills as they are connected to the spirit of the world.)

"And the monsters that protected them used that power to get stronger, yeah?" Willow questioned.

(Indeed. When the Sound Stone records the melodies of all eight power spots, you will realize the potential of 'Your World.')

"My world…?"

(I can sense it… you have already visited seven of them. Giant Step. Lilliput Steps. Milky Well. Rainy Circle. Magnet Hill. Pink Cloud. And the Lumine Hole. What awaits you next is the Fire Spring.)

"Do you know where it is?"

(Yes. It is located to the Southwest of this village. Now go. Listen to the eight melodies of the eight power spots. If you do not fail, you will have the power to upset all of Giygas' plans. Do you understand, Sapphire? The time when the destiny of every one of you and the whole of the universes will overlap. It is fast approaching.)

He blinked. "Why did you look only at me when you said 'every one of you?' and why universe'S'?" The rock fell silent, and he sighed. "Alright, guess we aren't getting any more answers. Come on, let's go rest up. Then we'll head to the Fire Springs."

"Yes… I grabbed some parts from those Uncontrollable Spheres, and I want to see if I can upgrade my cannon with them." Sapphire nodded at Anthony's words, and he motioned at Noct and Willow.

"Come on, let's see what kind of food they have. If it's disgusting, noct will head to Dalaam and get us actual food.

* * *

They set off a short time later, having rested to regain their PSI, as Noct Teleported back to Dalaam to grab some food from his palace for them all to eat. Apparently their food was also good for recovering PSI. The Tenda also gave them some information on the dinosaurs that roamed the land that could be useful. The Chomposaurs were the large, purple dinosaurs on four legs like the one that had chased them earlier. It was the most dangerous kind, so if they could beat a Chomposaur, everything else should be relatively easy to handle.

There were also Wetnosaurs, dinosaurs that traveled on two legs and had a snout that looked eerily similar to a dog's, but while they might chase them if hungry, they weren't necessarily hostile. They could avoid fights with them if they were smart. Besides them, there were some smaller herbivores and carnivores, and something called an Ego Orb that the Tenda didn't elaborate on since apparently the last one hadn't been seen for a very long time.

They made their way in the direction the Talkative Rock mentioned, wandering back into the underground forest and walking to the southwest. Every now and then they stopped and hid when they saw a Chomposaur or a Wetnosaur, since even if they could beat them, why waste energy on them? They were tough and could take a beating, so fighting a lot of them would just wear them out.

They eventually reached a cliff wall that blocked them from going any further south, so they began making their way west to find a way around it. That was when Sapphire felt a twinge at the back of his head. It wasn't his danger sense, but something else, some tickle at the back of his mind that was telling him something wasn't right. He looked around in confusion before he spotted a cave entrance. There was something off about it. He narrowed his eyes as the air around the place wavered, and the entrance flashed, disappearing for a brief moment and replaced by a wall of rock, before reappearing.

"Do you guys see that?" he asked.

They all turned to look at the cave he pointed out, and Noct furrowed his brow. "Yes… but… do you all feel something is off with it?"

"Yeah… it's got a spooky feeling!"

"Even I can feel something odd about it." Anthony shivered. "There's just something… it's making my skin crawl."

"Come on," He made his way to it, poking his head through. When his eyes adjusted to the light he saw it was a small tunnel leading further into the mountains, with some light at the end of it. They silently walked through, and he noted the odd fluctuation in the rock around them as it warbled and flickered, almost like television static. When they reached the end of the tunnel, he was hit with a wave of vertigo. "Huh…"

The ground went out for a few extra feet, before suddenly dropping into an abyss of nothingness. It was completely black, nothing existed within it. He looked up and saw that there was no sky. It was the same as the abyss, there wasn't a cave ceiling or anything, yet somehow there was a light to see by. It was almost like another Moonside. Here and there were pieces of land floating in the void, with what looked to be other cave entrances that were connected to nothing. He turned around to look at the entrance they walked through, and sure enough, it was also connected to nothing, going nowhere, yet he distinctly remembered walking through a long hallway to get there.

"What the hell?"

"Whoa…"

"..."

Everyone had differing reactions, but they all felt the same way. The place they stood at was disturbing on a primal, instinctual level. This place wasn't supposed to exist. It violated every law of nature and physics. Even Moonside hadn't felt as wrong, though in hindsight that was simply because the place was an illusion. This… This Empty Place was simply wrong.

"It's like a place that the world rejected," Willow whispered, and even that whisper seemed to echo through the nothing like a loud shout.

"That makes no sense. But still, seeing this place…" Anthony shook his head and muttered, rubbing his arms.

Noct said nothing, seemingly muttering Dalaam prayers.

"It's…" he thought back to the words of the Talkative Rock. "Like a cliff that time forgot…"

"C'mon, let's get out of here," Anthony shuddered again and walked back through the opening, back to a place that felt real. Noct and Willow followed, but he stood there a moment longer, looking out over the sea of cliff sides attached to pure void and the abyss, and spotted what looked to be a destroyed machine at the edge of a piece of land. He looked away and blinked when he thought he saw himself staring back from another cliffside, and another from a different cliff, and another, and another. They were all too far away, but he thought he saw small differences with each. One of them wore more yellow, one was garbed in white.

One didn't have a baseball cap, and another wore a blue hoodie. The black abyss flashed to white for a brief moment, and everyone vanished save for one, who… was replaced by some kind of robot? With what looked to be his hat? He stared at it in confusion, before the void flashed back to black and he was alone once again. He shivered as the void seemed to somehow grow even more silent than it already was, and another tickle grew.

_This is a cursed place… _

**Fuck, even I don't like it… we should leave.**

Casey still had no language, no words, still too new, but he could sense the shiver in her. Him? He didn't know yet. Either way, they wanted out. They didn't like it.

It seemed that, for once, all four voices within Sapphire's head were in agreement. Before he could make a move, he saw another flash. A boy with his own raven hair and his silver eyes when he was using his PSI, but with soft and at the same time sharp bishōnen features not his own, hidden behind a white domino mask. He was staring at something with a mix of calm fury and righteous determination, eyes glistening with unshed tears, held back by willpower. He wasn't sure why, but his heart squeezed when he saw the boy, that looked so very similar to himself.

The vision ended abruptly and without warning. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like that wasn't something he was meant to see. The void seemed to realize this. He, again, wasn't sure, and that seemed to be a pattern with this place, but the void, the Empty, felt alive. A place where nothing existed and so Everything hidden from the world was free to show itself… it just hadn't found him yet. Or perhaps, it was patient, and simply waiting. If he didn't leave soon, that patience may not last…

**Hey, can we get? This place gives me worse vibes than being stuck in your shitty head. **

_I agree with him._

Casey did too.

He nodded, silently adding his own agreement, and quickly turned to follow his fellow Chosen out of the Cliff that Time Forgot.

* * *

The air was starting to get warmer. Oh sure, it was already sort of hot since the forest they were in was similar to an underground marsh rather than a woodland forest, but it still hadn't been anywhere near as bad as Deep Darkness. But now, as they got closer to the Fire Spring, the heat began racking up. It wasn't a moist, muggy heat like a rainforest, but heat like that of Scaraba and Dusty Dunes Desert, and without the sun beating down overhead and plenty of shade, it was still getting to be unbearable.

After all, this heat wasn't from the sun, but presumably, the magma bubbling up from the Sanctuary. It would probably become even worse when they actually reached the Sanctuary itself, and not just the outskirts. He perked up when he noticed a break in the mountains ahead, with a visible entrance lit up from within by red light. "That must be it."

"Yep, not much else but lava glows red!"

"Fire," Noct pointed out.

"Red light bulbs," Anthony added.

"Oh hush!" They pushed on and exited the forest, only to enter what looked to be hell. The ground underfoot crackled and crunched like glass and had a dark, glossy look to it. The walls seemed to be made of the same rock as the outside, but it was darker, possibly from being burnt and covered in soot and ash, and had a red glow from the light of several fires and magma. Oh, and of course, there was that. The magma ran down from several miniature volcanoes about two feet tall filled with lava, which ran down several walls and pooled on the floor.

"Now that's hot."

"Shut up."

"Fuck you, Ant."

"But anyway," Willow giggled. "Let's get going!" They began walking in deeper, and almost immediately everyone began sweating. He grimaced and took off his hat to fan his face with, while Anthony loosened his bowtie, Noct loosened his gi, and Willow tugged on her sash, all of them trying to get their outfits to breathe better. As they walked, he felt a twinge.

_Danger, to the right._

He turned and narrowed his eyes, only seeing a pool of lava, before something bubbled inside it. "Move!" He jumped back just as a fireball shot above him, and he let out a yelp as he waved his arms and ducked backward, almost overbalancing before catching himself. When he righted his body, he saw what looked to be a sentient puddle of fire squelching closer. "Uhhh…"

It gurgled, before upchucking another fireball, which they all dodged. "Hit it with a Freeze," Anthony barked, "I'm willing to bet most things here are weak to it!"

"Freeze Ω!" Willow fired a blast of cold, while Noct only matched her due to the runes on Faithkeeper, and by slamming her into the ground to send out a wave of icicles. The lava puddle was skewered from beneath by the ice, sticking it in the air, where it was overwhelmed by the wave of absolute zero summoned by Willow's hands. It screeched, before its form darkened from red to brown, and became still.

"What was that?" Willow asked.

"From what we've seen so far, just a puddle of lava animated by Giygas' will. In any case, they seem weak when hit with Freeze, as I suspected."

"Right, it completely dried them up. Er, is that the right phrase? I know they're partially liquid, but they're also rock… whatever, let's move." They continued, the odd ground crunching underfoot. "Ugh, what is this?"

"Obsidian," Anthony answered. "It's a hard, dark, glasslike volcanic rock formed by the rapid solidification of lava without crystallization." Everyone stared at him. "What? You asked."

"You are, like, the definition of a nerd." Before the blond could begin to argue, his Danger Sense kicked in again before Noct was suddenly in front of him and blocking a fireball. They looked to where it had come from, and witnessed a man wearing what looked to be a red suit with a flame pattern… no wait, it was literally on fire. His eyes were hidden behind goggles attached to some sort of helmet, and the figure grinned at them maliciously.

"You guys think it's another robot?"

"Ha!" They jerked as the figure barked out a laugh, shaking its head. "How rude! Do I look like a robot to you?"

"He's a human?"

"Yeah, but he's… lucid? He knows what he's doing?"

"Of course!" The man smirked and gave a short, theatrical bow, the flames on his clothes licking at his skin, yet he showed no discomfort. "Oh sure, when I was first abducted I was scared shitless, but when I was told they could give me psychic abilities?" He laughed and threw his arms wide, willing the flames to spiral above him. "I accepted immediately! And look at me now! I'm the human-fucking-torch!"

"So you accepted psychic powers even though you knew you'd have to kill children afterward? Pathetic," Anthony spat.

"Oh please! A few kids who won't amount to anything don't matter to me! I'm a damn superhero now!"

"More like a supervillain," Willow shouted, "a hero wouldn't hurt people just for powers!"

"Shut it, girl! Apparently you three were born with these powers or could harness them easily, but the rest of us? Do you know how painful it was, all the experiments they conducted on us? I'm literally burning alive, but it's worth it to take down some shitty brats who take what they've got for granted!"

He narrowed his eyes at the man and began circling around, twirling Casey. "At least we don't lick the boots of some evil overlord for the chance to be special! I could have just not left my hometown after finding out my destiny, but I still left, because doing the right thing is more important than saving my own skin!"

The man grinned back, and circled with him, keeping his gaze locked with his. "Yeah? You're doing this out of the kindness of your own heart? Are you sure you aren't doing this to save your own skin? If the world ended, you'd die with it! And whatever family you've got!"

"Well… that may be true, but selfish reasons for saving the world still mean I'm saving the world! And I'm leagues smarter than _you!"_

"Yeah? How's that?"

"Well, it's something I learned on the very first days of my journey: don't take your eyes off your opponents until you know they can't fight!" The man looked confused, before two blasts of Freeze hit him in the back, extinguishing his flames.

"You fucking—!"

"Wa-blammo!" Willow jumped up and slammed her pan down, causing the man to slump forward. "Wow, you actually fell for that!"

"What imbecile turns his back on three opponents simply to have a one-on-one duel with another?" Anthony questioned, shaking his head.

"D-Damn brats!" The man stumbled to his feet before Noct swept them out from underneath him, and he raised Casey before swinging down. He _smashed _the man's head into the obsidian ground, sending small glass-like shards flying, and shattering the helmet the man wore.

He was out cold. And not just the man himself, but the small flames that barely survived the double Freeze attack, they fully died down, revealing a regular red suit underneath them. "So he had enough control over his flames to not burn himself or his clothing? Pretty impressive considering I sometimes still hurt myself with Hope."

"Hmm…" Anthony pilled the remains of the helmet off the man, looking it over. "This helmet is rather odd… I'll have to study it some more when we settle somewhere to rest. I still have the Starman's helmet too…" the blond stuck it in his bag and nodded at him. "Alright, let's move."

The left the man laying on the ground, unconscious before continued forward, skirting around pools of magma and defeating several more living puddles of lava. The Fire Spring seemed to be more tiered than any of the other Sanctuaries, having small areas they could walk on safely before having to find a way up the lava ridden slopes.

"Burn!"

"PSI Shield β!" The ball of Fire launched by the psychic man they faced was bounced back, and he shrieked before he was blasted into his butt. He slammed his hands into the ground and sent out a wall of fire, but Noct stepped in and countered with a wall of ice created by Faithkeeper, which, even though it melted, halted the attack.

As steam rose from the melting ice and blocked them from the man's vision, he focused and Warped, appearing behind the man. He wound up and _smashed _Casey into his head, sending pieces of his helmet flying as the man was sent tumbling forward. The Psychic Psycho scrambled away when he reoriented himself, trying to summon up some flames, but oddly enough, nothing flew from his hands but sparks. Even his suit stopped burning, instead only a few embers drifting from it now and again. "W-What?!"

"Ah, I understand! Their helmets focus their PSI abilities, allowing them to use them on a level similar to your own. Helpful as they most likely haven't had as much time training as you all, so they're out on an even playing field, but without them, they can't even use an Alpha level PSI abilities."

"Hmm… it would seem so, Andonuts-Sensei."

"So we just gotta break their helmets, and they can't fight!" Willow cheerfully grinned, waving her pan.

"Good to know." He nodded along, before turning to the man. "Alright, you can't fight anymore. Get going."

The Psychic Psycho narrowed his eyes and hissed at them through bloody teeth, "I'm not done yet!" He began reaching for something behind his back, which turned out to be some kind of bag with a stylized dragon on it. Noct's eyes widened, and he immediately knew it was bad news. He snapped his hand out and suddenly the bag was covered in a blue aura as he used his Telekinesis, pulling it towards him at extreme speeds. It slapped into his hand before the Psychic had time to realize what had happened, and when he did, he quickly scrambled to get away.

They watched him go, as he was no threat anymore before he tossed the bag to Noct. "So, Noct-San, what exactly is this thing?"

"It's called a Bag of Dragonite. Sprinkle this powder on yourself, and you can transform into a fearsome dragon. Or at least, that's what Dalaam legends say."

"I'd say that's preposterous, but I've seen enough odd things on this journey that I'm not even surprised."

After laughing at Anthony, the continued climbing up the small volcanic slope, aiming for the tip. Two more Psychic Psychos suddenly popped up out of nowhere, flinging fireballs at the unprepared Chosen Four. Well, he was prepared, given his Danger Sense.

_Danger ahead, twin fireballs. _

By the time they had been launched, he slammed both hands into the ground and pulsed a Hope into the ground, sending obsidian shards flying. He then used his Telekinesis on them to form a makeshift wall of obsidian, which easily blocked the fireballs. "Willow, ice 'em!"

"Freeze Ω!" She aimed the ice attack at the ground, sending a wave of frost along the glass-like ground, and sticking their feet to the ground. They yelped and waved their arms as they lost their balance, one of them trying to launch a wave of fire. "Sapphy, PSI Shield γ!" Everyone ducked behind him as Willow threw a shield over him, and the fire wall bounced back towards the Psychopaths.

While they were disoriented he ran forward and wound up Casey, before _smashing _Casey into one of their helmets, both destroying it and knocking the man out. Noct followed him, slashing through the other man's helmet with Faithkeeper, before spinning and bashing their head with the pommel of his sword to knock them out.

"Nice job gu

_Danger, to the right._

ys- look out!" He cut himself off as his Danger Sense kicked in, and he shoved Noct behind him as his PSI Shield protected him by bouncing back the oddly purple fire. Before it could hit the user, it was swept aside by a wave of the Psychic's hand. This Psychic was different, the flames waving from their suit a deep purple, and maybe the suit itself as well, though it was hard to tell.

"Good reflexes… or was that simply another of your abilities?"

He narrowed his eyes at the man who spoke and twirled Casey. "Both."

"Hm."

"Careful," Anthony called, "the color of flames indicates their intensity. Blue is the hottest type of flame, though considering these are pyrokinetic flames, that may not be applicable."

"You should listen to your blond friend," the Psychic nodded, sticking his hands into his pockets. "It would not bode well for you to challenge me."

"Just as all other challenges placed in our way, we shall make our way through you," Noct shook his head, readying Faithkeeper with a flare of her runes.

"We shall see, won't we?" Without raising his hands, several balls of purple and blue fire formed and shot forward, and when he stepped forward to let them bounce off of him, they swerved around him and slammed into Noct, who barely raised Faithkeeper in time to block most of the flames.

Noct grunted as he was thrown back, skipping over the ground before slamming Faithkeeper into the ground to stop him. He turned away from Noct and narrowed his eyes, twirling Casey as the runes glowed brightly. The psychopath simply raised an eyebrow and tapped his shoes against the ground, before an explosion destroyed the obsidian beneath him.

He let out a yelp as he fell through the destroyed floor and scrambled for a handhold but couldn't grab anything before he fell completely. He felt the hard rock scrape at his skin before he activated his PSI to protect himself before he grabbed a sharp piece sticking out from the wall to catch himself. He looked down to see a pool of lava bubbling beneath him and quickly sheathed Casey so he could hold onto the wall with both hands.

He looked up and narrowed his eyes, before vanishing with a flash of blue light as he Warped. He appeared about a foot off the ground, hovering for a moment as gravity didn't kick in yet, and saw the Psychic preparing to launch several more fireballs at Willow, who was erecting a wall with Freeze and quickly Warped behind the Psychopath.

As he brought the bat down a ring of fire exploded out of the man and he hissed as it scorched his skin, the PSI Shield Willow had thrown onto him having fallen a few seconds earlier. He was thrown onto his back and rolled to his feet, bringing up Casey to block a sword made of pure blue flames. "A fire sword? Cliché much?"

The man smirked, "If it works, it works." The sword flowed over Casey since it was made of literal fire, and he yelped as he Warped away. "So that's how you got behind me… that's cheating."

Out of nowhere, Anthony fired at the man but before the beam from Anthony's weapon could impact with the powerful Psychic, a pool of magma next to them sprang up and took the beam easily. "What?"

"Be careful," Noct barked, "He's using a mixture of PSI Fire and Earth to manipulate the magma! And he can sense attacks incoming, perhaps a weaker form of Sapphire's Danger Sense or Precognition!"

"Oh, now _that _is cheating!" He growled as the magma rushed towards him, and he Warped to safety, having no real way to fight against a wave of lava. "Willow, freeze it!" She nodded and stepped forward to throw out a ball of ice, which exploded into steam when it collided with the wave and turned the molten rock into plain old regular rock.

"We need a complex stratagem to defeat our opponent… It will require outwitting our opponent and planning several steps in advance-"

He and Willow looked at each other in the eye blandly, before matching sadistic grins grew. "BURN IT! BURN IT ALL DOWN!" He used his weaker yet bright blue Fire ɑ, which mixed with Willow's Fire Ω and rushed towards the Psychopathic Psychic in a horizontal pillar of flame. The man simply countered with another wall of magma.

"You should listen to the blond boy. He seems smarter than both of you." He commanded the magma to surge forward, and he grabbed Willow, giving her a quick warning of what he was planning through Telepathy, before Warping above the man. With the warning she was able to handle the discomfort of Warping and launched several Thunders downwards, which the man simply blocked by creating a sphere of magma around his body. The magma surged upwards, and he Warped them away. The man slowly turned to them, tilting his head.

"Hey, you beat overwhelming _fire_power with more power! Get it? Firepower?"

"...I'll be killing you now." The man finally took his hands out of his pockets and his clothes flared with more fire before twin streams of fire flew forward and almost engulfed them. The fire was cleared away as Willow sent streams of ice into the ground which exploded out in the form of a shield wall of icicles.

The fire and ice canceled each other out, and as steam rose he ran through it to get the jump on the psycho. The man seemed to expect him and prepared a massive wave of lava that rose several meters into the air before sending it crashing down. He narrowed his eyes and focused as much PSI into his arms as he could, to protect them.

As the magma engulfed them and began burning his skin and clothes until he pulsed a full power Hope through the magma wave. The entirety of it began glowing the tri-colors of his Gift, and the Psycho's eyes widened as he commanded the wave away, before it exploded and sent lava splashing around the area. "Clever trick, but I won't fall for it again."

"You won't need to!" he Warped in and placed both hands on the man's helmet, ready to use Hope and detonate it, before the man suddenly punched him in the gut and let out an explosion of fire.

He hacked up some saliva as he flew back before Willow caught him and unleashed a blast of Freeze at the man. He crossed his arms and summoned both flames and lava to protect himself, but his back was left open, and another attack from Anthony blasted towards him. The Psychic growled and moved the fire to cover his front and back, and glared at Anthony. "Don't think you can get me… wait, where the hell did-?!"

Before he could finish his sentence the ground underneath his feet crumbled, and he fell through. He looked down in shock, or at least he assumed it was shock, he couldn't see his eyes, before Noct burst through the rock and uppercut him. He flew back and before he could set up another shield of fire or lava he Warped above him and _smashed _his helmet to pieces.

The psychic skipped across the ground and spat out some blood. "How… How the hell…"

"Did we get around your Danger Sense?" He shrugged. "Back when Anthony began making a plan and we ignored him, we weren't actually ignoring him, we just needed to distract you while making it. We discussed it telepathically. You may have some kind of Danger Sense, but if Noct wasn't attacking you directly, and only the ground, you wouldn't exactly be in danger."

"Gah…" The Psychic tried to get up, and wobbled on his feet unsteadily as he tried to create more flames. His suit sputtered pathetically, and only a few sparks formed in his hands. He then collapsed forward unceremoniously, unconscious.

"Well that was a thing," he sighed, rubbing his head. "At least we're getting closer, I can feel it."

"And that means the Guardian is nearby," Anthony ominously murmured.

* * *

The rest of the trek up the volcanic area went smoothly. The purple Psychic seemed to have been the last of the psychics, and all of the living lava luddles couldn't strategize as well as a human, and easily fell to Freeze attacks from Willow and Noct.

Ahead was an opening in a wall that he could sense the Sanctuary through… and the Guardian. Luckily, the area leading up to the wall seemed flat and stable for any fighting. "Let's go."

The obsidian crunched underfoot as they approached the opening until they all felt the familiar pressure hit their minds. "You have finally arrived… This is the last of Your Sanctuaries, and I am the last Guardian… Take it from me, if you dare!"

_Danger, fast approaching._

Out of the opening shot an object at incredibly high speeds, which he just barely blocked with Casey. He skid back several feet, and watched as what looked to be a red and black dog on fire growled as it bit down on Casey. He growled back and kicked upwards, kneeing the hellhound in the throat. It let go and hopped back, snarling and leaking lava from its jaws. He looked down and winced at the sight of Casey's metal scorched black. "_You alright?" _he thought to it.

_F..e…_

"_Good."_ He looked up and twirled the weapon, grinning as the hellhound backed up, keeping an eye on all of them. "Alright, Willow, Noct, you know what to do!"

"Freeze Ω!"

"Icicle Storm Ω!" Willow shot a blast of frozen air forward, while Noct slammed Faithkeeper into the ground and sent dozens of Icicles shooting out of the stone to impale it from underneath. It growled and jumped to the side, building up flame in its mouth and shooting it at Anthony.

The blond yelped as Noct pulled him aside, before scrambling to fire his cannon at the Guardian. It howled as the beam impacted and tossed it back before it scrambled up and belched out a wave of fire. Since none of them were close enough together for him to defend them he repeated his earlier trick of destroying the ground and using the shards as cover, while Willow threw a PSI Shield over herself and Anthony, while Noct set up a half dome of Ice to hide behind.

When the wave passed, he let the shards floating in front of him collapse and dashed forward, Noct matching his stride. The hellhound snarled and let out a howl, before suddenly the magma around it exploded upwards and took the form of several more dogs. "Oh you're joking."

"It seems this will be a difficult fight." The clones made of lava dashed forward, and Noct crushed a ball of ice in his hand before flinging it out, sending shards flying into their snouts and eyes. Since they weren't exactly alive it didn't stop them, however, some of them were slowed down as the ice turned the lava back to rock.

"Hold on!" He suddenly felt a boost of energy, and saw a red haze wash over his body and Noct's. "Offense Up Ω!"

"Thanks, Wils!" he wound up and Casey demolished a clone hellhound's head before a group of three other dogs exploded as a Bottle Rocket flew into their midst and detonated.

"We've got your back, Sapphire, take out the main one!"

"Anthony, Willow, I'm Mirroring, hold on for one moment!"

He nodded at Anthony's words as the two defended Noct and dashed forward, Warping over a lunging clone and attempted to slam his bat down on the main hellhound's head. It dodged back in time, somehow doing an acrobatic flip that shouldn't have been possible for a four-legged animal. "You still persist against Master Giygas… for what? Your life? If you were to swear yourself to him, you would be given safety, you know."

He raised an eyebrow at the Guardian. Was it trying to persuade him or something? The only times he could remember the Guardians saying anything other than their usual your Sanctuary is now mine blah blah blah was the Titanic Ant, Mondo Mole, Trillionage Sprout, and Shroom. Even then, Shroom just seemed offended when they ignored it, and everything else ranted about how they'd die. "What, you scared that we'll beat you?"

"Even if you were able to kill me, the Carbon Dog, and take Your Sanctuary back, your nightmare will prevent you from ever coming near Giygas."

"Nightmare? What does Nightmare have to do with…?" He was cut off when the Carbon Dog leaped forward with lava dripping from its jaws, and he spun Casey to bash the dog in the side of the head before it could attack.

The Guardian rolled to its paws and hawked up several fireballs, two of which he managed to bat away, and the rest burnt through his clothes and scorched his skin. He Warped and attempted to attack from behind before a ring of fire erupted from the dog and he hissed, Warping away. He adjusted his feet as the obsidian crunched underfoot, and he narrowed his gaze. Willow, Anthony, and Noct were still fighting the magma clones, and even more were forming as they killed them, so he was still on his own. But he didn't exactly have any tricks up his sleeve to deal with the thing… besides his Ace.

"Hope γ!" The hellhound summoned lava to surround it as the Psychic Psycho had done earlier, and his signature attack detonated harmlessly against it, sending bits of lava and chunks of rock flying. The dog suddenly jumped through the fire and he Warped back instinctively, letting the guardian bite down on air, before Warping back and _smashing _its head to the side with Casey.

A mix of blood and lava went flying, as well as a few flaming teeth. It stumbled, disoriented, and he capitalized. "GRAAAAGH!" He let out a roar and grabbed one of its ears, ignoring the flames that were erupting from its fur, or maybe were its fur, as they scorched him, and pulled it back so he could knee it in the jaw. Its head flew up and it fell back onto its hind legs, skipping as it lost its balance, before he spun and infused Casey with a Hope γ, slamming it home into the Carbon Dog's stomach with an explosion of PSI energy.

He grinned, before a bright flash shone out, composed of all the colors of the rainbow, and he felt a sudden force slam into his stomach. He skid back several feet as he coughed up his saliva, his breath having been knocked out, and looked up to see what the hell had happened. Where the Carbon Dog stood was a new hellhound, although this one wasn't on fire. It looked like it was completely composed of brightly colored diamonds, with dark eyes staring at him hatefully. "Ah shit."

The Diamond Dog let off a piercing howl, before lunging for his throat. He growled and spun Casey, slamming the weapon into the dog's face… and felt his own face snap to the side as the force was transferred back to him. It had a counter shield!

The dog completed its lunge and slammed him to the floor, and he held it back by the throat as it snapped at him, diamond hard and sharp teeth flashing closer and closer to his throat. Before it could tear it out, however, a blast of lightning threw it back, and he turned to see Willow smile and nod at him, before turning back to deal with the flaming clones. He grinned back, even if she couldn't see it, and turned to face the final Guardian.

"Alright, let's do this… One on one, just like the very beginning." His first Sanctuary battle he survived by the skin of his teeth, bleeding, a displaced arm, and out of energy. But he grew, and now could handle a Guardian all on his own.

Probably.

_Danger, duck._

He followed the Hawk-Eye's words and ducked, rolling under another lunge form the Diamond Dog. It landed hard and spun to face him as he launched a Flash γ at it. It slammed a paw into the ground and summoned a wall of obsidian to block the flash, before it launched its own Flash back, although it seemed more powerful, perhaps an Omega level Flash. He slammed his eyes closed and crossed his arms, crying out as he was thrown back, cutting his shirt on the sharp ground.

_Danger, roll._

He did so, rolling as the dog slammed down where he lay, and powered up a Hope γ, blasting it away. It growled as its diamond skin became scuffed, and they glared at each other. Both were damaged, though he was at a disadvantage with its shield protecting it from his physical attacks. They circled each other for a moment, until he caught Anthony's eye and telepathically sent him a message. "_PSI Neutralizer, use it!"_

Anthony looked confused on why he'd want his powers stripped, before nodding. He refocused on the Guardian as it lunged for him, before a pale green light washed over them and he felt his PSI vanish from him. But that also meant the Guardian's shield was gone. He grinned and wound up, slamming Casey home and sending the Diamond Dog flying with a startled yelp, cracks forming in its blocky body.

It struggled back to its feet and he ran forward, ready to bash its skull in before the ground underneath him fell out. He cried out as he reached for something to grab, and snatched the Diamond Dog's leg, pulling it forward. They both scrambled for purchase, and when he finally grabbed a rock to hold onto, he looked down to see a dozen spikes forming at the bottom of the pit created by the Diamond Dog's PSI, and felt a wave of Deja Vu from his battle with the Titanic Ant. He looked up, narrowing his eyes. The only thing holding him up was the rock he held and the Guardian's leg.

He grinned up at it and watched as its eyes widened, before letting go of the rock and putting all his weight on the dog. It scrambled to stay on stable ground, before they both fell into the pit. He quickly shoved the dog under him, and pushed both hands on its face. "Hope γ!" Its body glowed, before exploding from within with the photokinetic attack, and it shot downward. It slammed into the spikes awaiting them at the bottom, and let out a weak howl as the spikes pierced its stomach.

He slammed his hands against the wall to slow himself down, and hissed as the rock cut his hands. He looked down to see the Diamond Dog struggling weakly, and shook his head before climbing back out of the pit. When he got to the top he grinned, before a surge of magma shot out of the hole and nearly engulfed him. Nearly, because just as the Dog regained its PSI, so did he, and he quickly Warped away.

The dog slowly pulled itself up, glaring at him hatefully as magma-like blood dripped from its wounds. "You will die, if not to me, then to your other self. If not him, then Master Giygas will wipe you off the face of this disgusting planet."

"You've lost, dude. It's time to give it up."

"Not yet…"

_Danger, behind!_

He spun around as three magma clones leaped at him, and he quickly lit up his hands with a Hope γ, blasting them away. A presence behind him became so threatening that he didn't even need his Danger Sense to feel it. The Diamond Dog leaped forward, eyes feral, and bit down on the arm he lifted to defend himself _hard. _"FUCK!" He raised his other arm and felt his eyes blaze with PSI before he brought Casey down, _smashing _its skull in.

It let go, falling to the ground with an unceremonious thump. He sighed and looked down to his arm, and holstered Casey to use a Lifeup on the bleeding wounds. "Lifeup γ." His body glowed as all of his wounds healed, but something felt weird. He frowned and looked back down, only to see diamonds growing on his skin. "Oh shit!"

"Sapphire? Sapphire!" Everyone ran up to him, the clones having fallen when the Diamond Dog did, and Anthony grabbed his arm. "It's diamondizing!"

Noct, who had still been in his Mirror form of the Carbon Dog, transformed back into a human. "Master, we have to get you to the Sanctuary!"

Willow nodded along, and began pulling on his arm. "Come on, come on!"

They ran through the doorway that the Guardian had leaped through and found themselves on a small, narrow pathway in what looked to be a large void, though it was nowhere near as wrong as the Cliff that Time Forgot. They followed the path, which lead up to a small volcano, leaking lava off the sides of the cliff it stood on. He suddenly yelped and fell, feeling the obsidian cut his face and the ash stain him. He looked to see the diamonds spreading along his lower body, and hissed.

"Master, come!" Noct grabbed him and hauled him up, wincing as the Diamonds began spreading to him.

"Damn it…" They hobbled along, Anthony and Willow grabbing his other arm, and he felt the stones slowly transform the entirety of his body. "Noct-San you said this can be healed with Healing, right?"

"Yes, the Omega level!" His legs had transformed into diamond, and he was being dragged along the ground now.

"Do you have that level of PSI?" His chest was gone by this point, completely stone. How his brain was operating without his heart pumping blood, he had no idea. His spare arm was beginning to diamondize now as well, spreading down from his shoulder.

"No, only Gamma!" It was creeping up his neck. They wouldn't make it to the Sanctuary in time, as everyone was also being diamondized as it spread from him to them, and it was still a few dozen feet uphill.

"Well, get ready then!" He turned and used his free hand to grasp Noct's temples, and pulsed energy into the prince. "We're forcing it, just like how I learned Hope's Beta level! Push all your energy into it!"

"I'll try!" He felt energy flow through him as a green light covered him, and Noct tried to push through his limits like they'd done back in Threed, before his eyes flashed. "Healing Ω!" There was an even larger rush of energy, before he watched with awe as the diamonds on him slowly transformed back into flesh.

"Hell yeah, nicely done!" The healing PSI spread from him to the other Chosen, and everyone gave off small sighs as their bodies returned to normal. They stood there for a moment, before Willow began giggling.

"Well, that was anticlimactic!"

That broke the floodgates, and they all began laughing. Even Noct let out a few solitary chuckles, the equivalent of uproarious laughter for him. After a minute, he shook his head and smirked. "Come on. It's time."

They walked up the soot covered slope, and beheld the small volcano they'd observed earlier. While the lava did drip down into the void below off the sides of the cliff, there was a small pool of it in the center of the tiny plateau. He felt a pull on his mind and walked forward, pulling out the Sound Stone and, without hesitation, plunged it into the lava. Even with his PSI normally giving him resistance to all forms of damage, he expected some kind of heat or burns… but no.

There was a heat against his body, yes, but it was just as hot as anywhere else in the Fire Spring. When he plunged his hand into the lava… it was cool. It was comforting. It welcomed him. He suddenly flashed back to Giant's Step, when he thought the place had sort of recognized him, but then dismissed it because it was a place and couldn't be alive. No, now he knew. Every single one of his Sanctuaries _were _alive. They were all a part of the Earth, each one part of a whole. With all eight connected in his mind, they welcomed him, and he felt it. The world embraced him.

The Sound Stone suddenly began playing the eighth and final part of the melody, which was clearly audible to all of them, even with it submerged in the spring. It was a single note, held for a few seconds, but when combined with the rest of the melody, finished it nicely. He closed his eyes and smiled, feeling the powers of all the Sanctuaries flowing through him, before getting the feeling that he was being watched. But not by anyone nearby… but by himself, in a memory.

He looked up from his crib as his older self reached down and adjusted his hat, smiling at him. "Stay strong, kid. You'll make some great friends someday."

He slowly stood up, and looked down to see the final notch in the Sound Stone was filled in with a small volcanic symbol. Then, without him commanding it to, it began playing. The melody surrounded him and filled the void with music, soothing his body completely. It soothed him almost too well. His body suddenly collapsed, and everyone jumped forward. "Sapphire!"

As he lay on the ground and his fellow Chosen looked him over, his eyes fell to the Sound Stone. It was slowly disintegrating, becoming absorbed into his palm. Suddenly everything went white, and he was standing up straight again, alone in a white void. The only things there with him was the grassy pathway below his feet and the familiar house at the end of it. He began walking forward, not bothered but the white around him. He knew it wouldn't hurt him.

Instead of opening the door he phased through it, like a ghost or a specter, without being able to affect it at all. That was fine. He was here for something else. He walked past a yapping puppy version of King, who was running around the living room, and wandered up the stairs to his room. It was different from what he remembered.

There weren't any posters of the latest rock and roll bands, nor of video games, and his bookshelf didn't hold any comic books, school supplies, or action figures. The wallpaper wasn't his favorite bright blue, but instead a lighter blue, with gold stars here and there. And where his bed was stood a line crib, with see through versions of his mother and father looking down at him with smiles on their faces.

"Sapphire… hm… I think Sapphire is the right name for him." In the crib, the baby version of himself was holding his baseball cap, chewing on the blue bill and giggling. "He'll be our precious gemstone, won't he?" Upon hearing his name, baby Sapphire waved his arms and gurgled, a happy smile on his face.

"I think he likes it! He smiled even wider hearing it…" his mother giggled, "I just hope King won't get jealous of him."

"Come on," his father chuckled. "Let's celebrate with some food. I know… he'll grow up to be a hard worker,"

"Just like you."

"Yeah… I don't want him to be rich, or famous… all that matters to me is that he grows into a thoughtful, strong boy." His eyes drifted to a nearby table as Baby Sapphire pointed at it, and he tilted his head. "That's odd. The baby bottle he pointed at seemed to move a bit."

His parents forms slowly vanished, and he took it as his cue to walk over. "Guess I've had PSI all my life…" he shook his head with a smile, and looked down at himself, grabbing the hat and placing it on his baby form's head. "Stay strong, kid. You'll make some great friends some day." He smiled up at himself, even as the world twisted around him, shining brightly. When everything became clear once more, he stood with only his pajamas in a field covered in bright green grass, with a bright blue sea behind him, and a multitude of trees and giant vegetables stretching out into the distance, people wandering in between trees and such, vanishing in one spot and reappearing in another.

He knew what it was. He'd had it all his life. He just never had access to it. Magicant. His World. He held his head high and walked forward. It was time. Nightmare was here, somewhere. It was almost over.

* * *

Nightmare sat on his small pedestal, looking out at nothing. It was almost time. He clenched a stolen fist and looked down at it, before looking away. He had been born of darkness and chaos and evil, mixed with Sapphire Starr's emotions, and became what he now was. He was supposedly a being of pure malice. Just as Giygas was the greatest evil, he was Sapphire's own great evils.

Being a thirteen-year-old, that didn't mean much. There aren't many things one could have done by that age, but with his power to twist emotions, he had grown stronger. Now, once he killed Sapphire, he would be free. He could finally live, wander the earth until Giygas came and destroyed it, sparing only his minions.

So why? Why was there this… this feeling in his chest? He snarled and stood up, the water lapping at his tiny island growing more violent in accordance with his mood. It wasn't like anything he'd ever felt! Hatred, envy, malice, despair, grief, pain, loss, sadness… every negative emotion he knew in extreme detail, so what was this?!

It was like whenever Sapphire let him out, leaving him to do whatever he wanted, with some limits. He felt something similar, but it was so foreign that he simply ignored it. Then, whenever the boy tried to speak with him and understand him, the feeling grew, but he kept squashing it down. There was no room for whatever it was. It'd simply keep him from his ultimate goal. Life.

And if he killed Sapphire, he'd finally have it.

So why did this feeling feel so… bad?! It didn't matter if he killed Sapphire! The boy was too happy, too energetic, too _nice_! Why did Sapphire have to let him out? Why did Sapphire have to show him kindness?

_Why did Sapphire force me to feel worried for him?! _

His body locked up. Worry. That was it. It wasn't a negative emotion, in that it was a worry for another being and not your own welfare. How? How could a creature like him experience… worry? Especially for another being?

No… he just… no. He'd kill Sapphire. And that was that. It had probably been the boy's plan, in hindsight. Endear himself to him, make him feel bad… then kill him, and get rid of him forever. Well, too bad, Sapphy, because he wasn't falling for it!

He let a dark smirk grow if only to hide the fact that the feeling didn't go away. He would be able to slaughter Sapphire just fine!

He would!

It would be easy…

They were each other. He knew everything he knew… all his tricks. It would be as easy as smothering a babe.

There could be no room to care… because he was born to be a monster. No matter how much he longed for it to be different.

It was simply the role he had to play.

* * *

**Bonjour, the last chapter before the big bad battle. The next chapter has been finished for a while since I wanted to write the fight between Nightmare and Sapphire for a long time. The exploring Magicant portion might be most of the chapter, but the fight itself could be considered its own chapter with how longit is. Albeit a short chapter... Eh. **

**I changed a few things up with Magicant, wanted to put a little spin on it which you'll see next week. But anyway, back to this chapter. Since the Carbon/Diamond Dog was the Last Guardian, and he has a special transformation that no other Guardian has, I wanted to make it a battle between him and Sapphire, just like the beginning of his journey. So, I thought, how do I make it so they can fight one-on-one? Well, get some minions. But what kind? the Psychos and flame puddles are way too weak. So then I came up with PSI Magma, which is pretty much a mix of PSI Earth and Fire. Then I wanted to do more with it, leading to the creation of the Major Psychic Psycho boss fight. ****I think I did alright with it.**

**The Cliff that Time Forgot! spooooky. Hope that part was an enjoyable read, I wanted to get an eerie atmosphere, where nothing is certain. No real references there, except for allusions to multiverse theory. Ah, and Nightmare. I wish they did more for Ness' Nightmare in-game but I guess that's the beauty of Fanfiction, you can expand what you want. He'll be a treat, as you can probably see from the last part of the chapter. **

**In any case, that's all for today... leave a review on everything that you liked about the chapter or just a 'nice.' both are great to read.**

**See y'all next time!**


	31. Chapter 31: Magicant's Nightmare

**I'll be putting this at the bottom as well, but I may not be able to upload next week for reasons, so enjoy a chapter a few days early just in case. If it turns out I can upload, then you'll simply be getting the next chapter then.**

**Also, with how long this chapter is, feel free to take breaks. 14,000 words. Yikes. Definitely my longest chapter yet.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One: Magicant's Nightmare

He began walking forward, the grass soft under his bare feet. The very air seemed to whisper to him, caressing his face and waving through his messy hair while he walked. Magicant. Now that it had fully formed, there was no need to ask what it was. He didn't know the intricate details of course, after all, nobody knew everything about their mind, but the general gist of it he understood.

It was an entire world formed from his mind, filled with happiness, kindness, sorrow, and hatred. Beauty and ugliness.

Hope and Despair.

Somewhere in here, Nightmare awaited him. He wasn't sure where, but now he understood what Nightmare and everyone else had spoken of when they said he'd 'get his chance.' This was it. By gaining the ability to enter his mindscape, his unconscious, the sea of his soul, he had the chance to face himself.

As he passed a giant carrot, and he really didn't want to know why his mind was filled with carrots, he saw a familiar face. "Everdred!"

The man turned, his grin as wide as ever. "Hey, kid! Ya know, I want ta thank you again, if you hadn't healed me, I coulda died!" He grinned back, before shaking his head. He looked and acted so realistic that for a moment he forgot the man was a creation of his mind. "Hey, maybe ya don't want ta hear this, but ya remind me a lot of myself when I was younger."

"Thanks, Everdred," He smiled.

"Alright, I can't do anything more for you! Good luck, Sapphire!" He nodded and walked away as the landscape around him suddenly warped. The grass and trees became shades of teal and yellow, while the sea became light pink. Being a mindscape, it seemed that it shifted as easily as his thoughts. Made sense.

He passed between a few cone-shaped trees and came upon a few one-story buildings, each shaped like tiny towers. There was even a sign nearby, with the words 'Come on in to magicant!' on it. He walked past a small chick flapping its wings, who smiled as he walked past. "Onett was always such a nice quiet town."

"Yeah. But I had to leave eventually. Saving the world is pretty important." He shrugged back. He continued walking and blinked when he saw what looked to be his living room, minus the rest of the house between a few buildings. Cognitive versions of his mother and sister sat on the couch, while King lay at the foot of the couch.

"Hey, big bro!"

"Oh, hello honey! Are you tired? After everything you've done, surely you want to rest for a bit."

"Sorry, mom. Can't rest yet. When I'm all done though, and everyone is safe, then I'll rest." He smiled and walked away, looking briefly into several of the houses to see a few things, like a chicken in one, and a friendly-looking demon in another. If demons could be friendly. It was probably just some creature he'd thought up when he was younger. The demon smiled and waved at him once it spotted him.

"Hi!"

"Howdy."

"Would you like to buy anything? I specialize in pudding and pendants!"

"Those sound like entirely different things, though…" The demon guy brought out a small pendant with what looked to be the earth on it and held it forward.

"Like it? It's just four-thousand dollars!"

"I don't have any…" He blinked when he felt a sudden weight in his pockets, and reached in to grab a wad of bills. "Huh. Well, it is my mindscape…" He handed it over and took the pendant, putting it over his head to feel a sudden rush of power. "Alrighty then."

He wandered a few minutes more, a sense of curiosity at what the inside of his mind looked like filling him before he began to move on. He reached a small path leading through the ocean and saw a zombie sitting at the edge of it. It growled at him as he walked past, seeing that it wasn't hostile. "You kicked my butt badly… I won't forget that!"

He just hummed an affirmative and kept walking. The path changed to a sickly brown, while the sea turned to dark blacks and grays, but he ignored it all. Master Belch was next, his gooey form lying on the path. "You destroyed my pride," the pile of barf murmured, a growl tainting his words.

He shrugged, ignoring the world as the path turned purple and the sea turned pink. At the end of the path was another town, out of which skipped a young boy, maybe around seven or eight, wearing a blue baseball jersey with jeans and a baseball cap. The boy blinked when he spotted him, and ran over. "Howdy!"

"Howdy?" His voice sounded familiar.

"It's me, you when you were younger!" The boy hopped up and down. "Come on, let's play some ball! Oh, or we could read some comics! Do you prefer comics or games?"

"Sorry, me, but I'm a bit busy."

"What? You mean I turn into one of those boring adults that never has time to play?" his young self frowned and slumped, walking away. Nearby, a snowman watched on, coal eyes and mouth showing actual emotion.

"So, you're…" it was on the tip of his tongue. "The snowman I built with Tracey when she was finally old enough to walk."

"Yes… thank you for remembering me," a genuine smile shone from the snowman. "Your heart can remember things and know things that even you aren't aware of."

Another snowman nearby seemed to grin mischievously. "I know the name of a girl you used to like, for instance." He blushed and walked swiftly away.

The ground was teal, and the sea purple. He came upon a line of kids, led by a guy in a rabbit suit. Upon seeing him, they all ran over and began crowding him. "Hey, hey, play with us!"

"You haven't played with me in a while!"

"Come on, come on!"

"It's me, Nico! Remember me? Come on, let's play!"

"H-Hey, alright, enough!" He waded his way through them, "I can't play right now, I've gotta go." He managed to get away and began walking north, past several bushes and trees, until he came across another living room-like area. Except this one was the Minch's living room, and sitting on the couch was Pokey. He stared at the boy for a moment, before stepping closer. "Pokey."

"Sapphire." The boy tilted his head, blond hair spilling away from his eyes for a moment. "...You're so lucky, you know. I envy you. I have no luck at all."

"Pokey, that's…"

"Nobody liked me back in Onett. But you? You weren't the most popular person, but you lived right next door, and I could see when you brought one of your friends over to play, or hang out, but nobody wanted to hang out with me…"

"Pokey… I admit you were annoying… but if you had just said something, how you wanted friends, you were lonely, I would have spent time with you. We could have been real friends."

"But, Sapphire…" Pokey stayed silent. "Well… okay. Promise me… when everything's over… that we'll be friends forever, alright?"

"I promise." Pokey smiled and vanished. If only it could be that simple in the real world… But, now he made a promise, even if it was to a cognitive version of the person. No matter what happened, Pokey would remain his friend.

He continued walking north, crossing a land bridge and coming across what looked like a small version of Noct's palace, with a grave outside. Nearby stood one of the fish he'd killed in Deep Darkness, who glared at him. "Sapphire… I still feel that pain where you wounded me." The world grew dark again, but he ignored it as he kneeled before the grave. 'Here lies Buzz Buzz. Though his death was not heroic, he still risked his life to save the world by giving it a fighting chance. I'll continue, for him.' He nodded.

Turning to the palace, he tilted his head before opening the door. Inside was someone he didn't expect. "Noct?"

"Correct. And incorrect." The person who looked like Noct but wasn't stood in the center of the room, sword implanted in the ground. His entire body, from his hair to his clothing, to the various pieces of the Kingly items were all… it was hard to explain, but perhaps desaturated? His colors were weaker, less noticeable. "On the beginning of thou journey, dost thou recall what Buzz Buzz told thou? To defeat Giygas thou needed Courage, Wisdom, and Friendship."

"So close to the Triforce," he joked.

"I am what represents your Courage. I shalt stand by thou, through thoust scariest trials, with my blade by your side. I shalt join thou on thy journey until thine end of days."

"Huh. Sweet. Alright, let's get going." One led them out of the building, and they followed the only path they could, to the East while he contemplated Noct representing his courage. It made a lot of sense, actually. Ever since the prince had joined their group, he'd admired the boy's ability to stay cool under pressure and keep calm in perilous situations. He felt his bond with the prince grow a bit stronger…

* * *

Noct carried Starr-San into the tiny house and carefully lay him down on one of the four beds. "Will he be okay?" Polestar-San questioned, looking on in concern.

"He'll be fine," he nodded. "He is in his mind space, but it seems to be locked down. We will not be able to communicate until he gets out."

"How long will that take?" Andonuts-Sensei asked next, setting down his bag.

"I'm not sure… Master's mindscape is complicated, especially with Nightmare within it. It may take several hours, or perhaps several days."

"He could starve in that amount of time," Andonuts-Sensei muttered. "I'll go and purchase some food and such. You two keep an eye on him."

Andonuts-Sensei left the building, and he turned to Polestar-San. "You may rest your eyes if you wish. The battle against the Carbon Dog and its clones was hard-fought, after all."

"No, I'm alright…" she continued to stare at Starr-San, silent.

That was fine. He preferred the silence. He forgot that Willow didn't. After a few minutes, she looked over at him. "Hey, Nocty… I wanted to ask you earlier, but… back in the underworld place, when you found the, um… the skeleton of the guy wearing the Cloak, you looked really disturbed… that was because he was your ancestor, right? I think?"

"Partially." He shrugged. "Not for the reasons you would think, though. You would think that I might feel grief over seeing the corpse of my ancestor, but he betrayed Dalaam out of arrogance years ago thinking he was the Chosen King and in doing so the Kingly items I now wear were lost. You saw one of the consequences, the Starman in charge of the Stonehenge Base wielded Faithkeeper, and could have slaughtered us all easily."

"But you still grieved for him though, right?"

"Of course. Even if he was arrogant, he was family. I simply had to start my journey without any assistance from Faithkeeper, or what abilities the Cloak, Bracers, and Diadem gift me."

"You still had more than me or Sapphy started with," Polestar-San smiled. "Especially Anty!"

"That is true," he nodded. "I suppose that you both are more courageous than me in that regard, while I had years of training, you both went out with practically nothing."

"Nah, we're all risking our lives here! We're all as courageous as each other! Plus, I can tell that Sapphy really looks up to you! "

"Truly?" he gave a rare smile, before turning back to Starr-San. He himself looked up to the boy, without any training he had managed to get through most of his journey with his instincts, guts, and determination. If he had never been trained in his powers, nor studied to learn more about PSI, would he be on the same level as the raven-haired boy? Maybe, but maybe not.

But hearing that the courageous boy looked up to him filled him with pride. In the back of his mind, he thought he felt his bond with the boy grow just a bit deeper.

* * *

He led Courage, since calling him Fake Noct was a bit too long, across the small land that crossed the ocean, the red sea splashing against his shoes. An old man sat on the ground, letting his legs rest in the water. "The Sea of Eden is filled with ultimate intelligence. It's a place where you can touch the truth of the universe. Going there may bring sorrow, and going before you are ready is suicide."

"I still have to go," he shrugged, walking past. "Or else I can't grow."

"Well said," Courage nodded as the sea turned black and the grass green. They continued to walk until the grass underfoot slowly transitioned into red rock. There was a shuffling noise ahead, and what looked to be a pair of dice with top hats, eyes, legs, and arms, one of which held a tiny cane, ran forward.

He raised an eyebrow before one of them leaped up to attack him. He leaned back, winding up and forgetting for a moment that he didn't have Casey. It turned out that it didn't matter since a new bat formed in his hands. He swung hard, and the die was obliterated in one hit. He looked to see Courage bisecting the other die in half, sending both pieces flying to the sides before falling beneath the waves. He looked down at his bat with a bit of curiosity, and saw it was designed similarly to Casey, except it was blue and gold.

With the dice defeated, they followed the path until they reached a split. Deciding to take the right path first, he blinked when he found an exact copy of himself standing at the end of the path, by a present box. "Howdy, me! I found your hat for you!" The copy then reached up and took off his hat, before handing it over. "Here you go!"

"Thanks." He put the hat on and turned to the present, opening it to find a Bag of Dragonite. "I guess that'll be useful too." He made to put it in his bag, which just like his bat, suddenly appeared on his back when he needed it. He nodded to his copy and turned, backtracking so that he could try the next route.

The pathways continued to split as they went, and he grumbled to himself in frustration as he went. Courage stayed silent, apparently having even less to say than the real Noct. At the end of another pathway lay another present box, which he opened to find a pink and gold band. He looked it over, before slipping it on. "I don't know if I can bring this stuff out to the real world, but if I can, I guess I could give it to Willow or sell it."

A few minutes later he was following another path before a UFO with a ribbon suddenly came flying forward. He wound up and _smashed_ it into the ground, where it bounced back up again for Courage to slice into two. "Why exactly are there enemies in my head?" He muttered. "Or is that something else that Nightmare is responsible for?"

Courage didn't answer him, so they kept walking. Eventually, they reached another building, this one a smaller version of the Snowwood Boarding School. Already guessing what might be inside, he opened the door to see a desaturated version of Anthony sitting behind a tool bench. "So, you'd be…?"

"I am what represents your wisdom," the boy calmly intoned. "When a trial seems too complicated, know that I will always be with you, technology ready."

"Huh… is there a reason that my Courage and Wisdom are represented by you two?"

Wisdom nodded. "Yes. But not for the reasons you would think. It is not because we are your fellow Chosen, but that, in your mind, we perfectly represent these traits. It is pure happenstance."

"Alright… so, would Tracey or mom be my love? And then Pokey would be… envy or hate?"

"Essentially. Though you have not encountered them, so you would not know. However, as you are beelining straight towards Nightmare, you will likely not encounter any others, besides the one who represents Friendship."

"Gotcha…" he nodded his head, before waving at the door. "So, are you going to be coming with me like Courage?"

"Correct." Wisdom stood up and adjusted his cannon. "It is through your bonds that you will awaken to your true power, and gain the strength to defeat the Manifestation of Evil."

"Would that be Nightmare or Giygas?"

"Both. Nightmare is your personal evil. Giygas is the personification of all evil."

"Alright, cool. Let's get going then." He walked out of the building with Courage and Wisdom following him closely. Wisdom's words made sense, and explained why Noct was Courage, though he'd already guessed so, and why Anthony was Wisdom. The blond was leagues smarter than him, and even if he had way less advanced social skills and couldn't take a joke half the time, he still was valuable to the team. And not just in the 'genius that provides the tech' way, but the straight man to his and Willow's more silly moments. Even Noct could be roped into some of them since he wasn't as uptight as you'd expect a Prince to be. It was faint, but he felt his bond with the genius grow a bit deeper…

* * *

Anthony walked back inside the small house, carrying a few bags of food. He sighed as he set them down on the table before collapsing into the couch. He then looked over to see Willow and Noct still looking down at Sapphire. The boy was breathing evenly, and seemed to still be in a deep form of REM sleep.

"How's he been?"

"Same as always," Willow murmured. He winced at the bags under her eyes and turned back to the bags on the table. She needed rest, but she kept denying it every time he said so.

It'd been like that for a full day now.

Noct explained that when it came to the mental plain, time could pass in odd ways. An hour for Sapphire could be a day to them. He was the only one that left the house, mostly to get food for everyone. Willow at least ate and drank, but Noct simply watched with Faithkeeper implanted in the floor, like a statue. He sighed, and rubbed his eyes.

Honestly, what could he do? He looked down at the burgers he'd bought with Sapphire's money, and brought one over for Willow to eat. "Here." She took it silently, and he turned to Noct. "Noct-San, are you going to eat?"

The silence was his answer.

"…Ugh." he shook his head and sat on the couch, eating his own burger. He wasn't sure if Sapphire would get hungry in his trance-like state, but hopefully whatever PSI magic was keeping in it would keep him from getting hungry. If not, they'd have to find some way to feed him. Drinking was easier, pour some water in his mouth, massage his throat, make him automatically swallow.

He looked down and blinked, not realizing that he'd already finished eating. He was truly distracted… was this what being a leader was like? Having to worry about the whole team's welfare at all times? He didn't envy Sapphire before this, and he most certainly wouldn't now. His gaze hardened. But… with Noct keeping watch and Willow barely responding he would need to lead. He was Sapphire's unofficial second-in-command after all. Willow, though she'd been the second member of the team, was too childish. Noct, though experienced, in a situation like this didn't know what to do.

"Alright, enough." He got up and grabbed Willow, pulling her out of the chair she sat in to watch Sapphire.

"Hey—!"

"Shut up." He narrowed his gaze at her and she recoiled. "You aren't going to help him if you pass out. In fact, are we sure if he needs help? We aren't. So, you'll rest, and when he gets out of his little PSI coma slash trance, you can fawn over him or whatever you people with crushes do."

"But—"

"No buts! Get in that bed, now!" He pointed at one of the three unoccupied beds, and she looked from him to it and back, before sighing and climbing in. He then turned to Noct. "Noct-San."

No answer.

"Alright, if you'll be like that…" he quickly left the house to go into town, and was back within ten minutes. Willow had fallen asleep by then, and he set up the supplies he'd bought. A few minutes later and the chemistry table he'd set up was complete. A minute after that and the anesthesia he'd made was in a syringe that he plunged into Noct's neck. Noct jerked, having not expected it and slapped his hand up, but it was too late, and he fell forward.

He grunted and grabbed him, pulling him upright. "Come on, you stubborn…" he pulled him to a bed and set him down, tucking him in, before glancing at Faithkeeper. "Burn me, and I'll toss you into the ocean. I don't care how pissed Noct gets." He then picked up the sword and felt a faint sense of annoyance come from it before he laid it against the bed Noct was in.

With both Willow and Noct asleep, he turned to Sapphire. "You'd better wake up soon… I don't want to have to deal with this shit any longer…" he sighed, and rubbed his eyes. "I should probably get some sleep myself… yeah, that's probably wise." Before he did, he sat on the bed next to Sapphire and looked him over.

"You know… maybe I should get some pointers from you some time on leading… and you could take some from me on general information. Both of us could certainly benefit from that shit." He smirked and shook his head, turning and walking to the last unoccupied bed, thinking on how perhaps his bond with the boy might've grown, just a bit.

* * *

Sapphire continued forward, noticing that the sea became more and more turbulent as they walked along the pathways through his mind. The waters were now pink while the rock bridge was green, but the water was splashing on him more than it had an hour before. Probably because as he got closer to Nightmare, the less organized and more chaotic his mind became.

Suddenly, five odd shapes shot out of the water and towards them. They looked like molecules, those atom things he'd learned about in science class. Three ran straight at him, and he bashed aside the first with a sweep of his Magicant bat. The second attempted to blast him with Thunder, and he rolled to the side to dodge as the third tried to Freeze him. The Fourth and Fifth went after Courage and Wisdom.

He sent PSI through his skin to brace against the ice, before Warping behind it and slammed it to pieces. He turned and hit the third with a Flash, disintegrating it, while Courage sliced the one attacking him into two and then four pieces, while Wisdom blasted his with the fake cannon.

"Ugh… Hey, Wisdom, Courage didn't answer me, but why exactly are there enemies in my head? That's because of Nightmare, right?"

"Correct. Or at least, most likely. Even without the Mani-Mani empowering it, it has some form of control over your mind. It is likely sending out foes to weaken you, and give it a better chance during your battle."

"Right, I figured that…"

"As I said, it is the most likely answer I cannot say for sure, as you yourself do not know, and I am simply a manifestation of your Wisdom."

"Right, right. I guess there's no real way to confirm it until we reach Nightmare."

"Correct. In the center of the Sea of Eden. We do not know what awaits us, so be prepared for anything."

"Yeah." The sea turned gray and the land blue.

Several minutes later the land bridge began branching out again, and Wisdom pointed to something in the distance. It looked like a curled metal tentacle sticking out of the rock, with a few metal cylinders nearby. "That is what will take us to the Sea of Eden."

"This place here isn't the Sea of Eden? There's a lot of sea here. And… Eden. Stuff."

"No." Wisdom didn't elaborate, so he just shrugged and began walking along one of the rocky paths. Several more Molecules began running at them, and he charged up a Hope to blast them away with. The rocky ground was blown apart, and the Molecules were thrown into the distance, some of which fell into and drowned in the sea, while others broke apart on contact with the ground.

He then looked down and blinked at the broken bridge. "Uh… shit didn't mean to do that… think there's another way across?"

"Magicant is your mind. Simply will there to be a bridge."

"Oh shit, you right."

"Please never say that again, I can feel us losing brain cells as you do." He ignored Wisdom, and focused on creating another bridge. He strained for a moment, nothing happening before the water rumbled and rocks began floating to the surface, fusing to form a walkway.

He sighed when he was done, and wiped the sweat from his brow. "That was more intense than I thought it'd be… Wait, I controlled those rocks, do I have PSI Earth now or something?"

"No," Wisdom shook his head. "This was all within your head, you do not suddenly have control over Earth. The reason this was so tedious was simply that, as I've stated, the closer we get to Nightmare's position, the more control he has. We are getting close enough that consciously changing the landscape around us will be difficult for you. It would be much easier if you attempted it back where you first entered Magicant."

"Right. Well, I was gonna make a bridge directly to that tentacle thing, but if it tires me out, I probably shouldn't try it. I don't want to waste too much energy." They walked down the pathway and began trying to find their way towards the tentacle. Thing. The paths continued to split and cross, and as they continued walking a sort of fog rolled in. "Oh my god, are we just rolling out the cliches?"

With the fog now covering the area, traversing the various paths wasn't hard, but it was more difficult to find which paths they hadn't taken yet. Eventually, after an hour of grumbling and walking back and forth, at yet another dead end they found a building, this one looking like a small house with the name 'Polestar' on it. "Guess this is where Friendship is?"

"Correct," Wisdom answered.

He opened the door and beheld a desaturated Willow sitting on the ground cross-legged. She glanced up and looked at him with the same blank look Courage and Wisdom had and tilted her head. "Hey, so you're Friendship?"

"Yes. I'm Friendship. I represent all of the friendships you have forged over your life and this journey. Platonic friendships, true friendships, and romantic friendships. I will always be with you, through your most difficult trials, to lend you a helping hand."

"Uh, back up, romantic friendships?"

"In first grade, you had a crush on a blond girl named Emily. Currently, you have a crush on Willow Polestar."

"Wha— hey, listen—"

"I am your subconscious, why are you so embarrassed?"

"Alright listen here," he threatened, a blush forming as he pointed a finger directly at her. "You can't just tell a guy he has a crush on someone while _looking like that person!"_

"I apologize," she shrugged, not looking very sorry, "but this form perfectly fits what you would think of as 'friendship.' In the beginning, you were simply friends with Willow. It then grew to a strong bond, a true friendship throughout your journey. Recently, it has evolved into a romantic friendship."

"But I'm not even dating her! If I even like her like that at all!"

"That is why it is a romantic friendship and not love. I am you, and because you do not know what love is, I cannot say whether your crush is a simple crush or true love. But it's totally true love, idiot."

"Gah! Enough!" He shook his head and waved his arms. "I don't want to deal with this right now! I have to focus on taking down Nightmare! We can… do all this in the real world, later!"

"Very well." Friendship stood up and joined Courage and Wisdom, and he sighed as he led them out of the house. He already realized he had some form of a crush on the girl, but he didn't exactly think that expressing such a thing in the middle of a journey was wise. Feelings could get in the way of doing what was right, but… well, who knew what could happen? The Sanctuaries has been conquered, all that needed to happen now was for them to wait for Giygas' next move so they could counter it. He supposed that… he could speak with Willow when he had the time. Was it really not a crush, and instead that cliche true love...? Maybe...

It was faint, but he felt his bond with the blonde grow.

* * *

Willow slowly let some water trickle into Sapphire's mouth, before massaging his throat like Anthony had shown her to so he would swallow. Another day had passed where he didn't wake up, and since his body wasn't doing anything except breathing and dreaming, they had to start feeding and… what's the water version of feeding? Watering?

Either way, it would be a while until the boy would starve, so, for now, she was simply making sure that he drank and wasn't dehydrated. Noct was still standing guard, but would quickly sit down to eat and drink, and sleep as well whenever Anthony glared at him. It was kind of funny how the weakest member of the team, in the physical and Psionic sense, was scaring the prince and Sword of the Chosen Four.

She let some more water trickle into Sapphire's mouth, watching him with a melancholy look. She didn't know why, he didn't look to be in pain, or struggling at all, but seeing him helpless, unable to interact with the world, saddened her. He was bright and energetic, not to her degree most of the time of course, and his favorite method of comedy was a dry sarcasm with a toothy smirk, but he was still a ray of light in dark moments.

"…didn't we go to Starr-San's home for him to rest?" She looked up at Noct's question, not having caught the beginning of his sentence, yet able to surmise what he'd said.

"I didn't want to worry his mom and sis if he didn't wake up within a few hours. And I was right!"

"I agreed with her reasoning," Anthony nodded, "and since Sapphire showed us this hut a while back, we knew it was a safe place to stay."

"I see…"

"Yep," she nodded, "I didn't want Sapphy to awkwardly explain he was trapped inside his own head, because that'd make me a bad friend! Making his family worry like that!"

"I feel we should worry more about our leader's health, but you are the Heart of the Chosen Four." She smiled at the name and rubbed the back of her head embarrassed.

"Well, when you say it like that~!"

"In any case, is there no way for us to help speed this process along? Or at least aid Sapphire?"

"None," Noct shook his head. "He is trapped in his mind's world, Magicant. It represents his emotions, memories, and thoughts, from birth to now. Normally, the Magicant's of members of my kingdom are entered to aid a subject psychologically, addressing their issues and concerns. However, I do know that if one were to confront their negative aspects in the center of their subconscious mind within Magicant, a place called the Sea of Eden, they would awaken to their full potential, or at least, unleash their true strength that they could refine into their true potential."

"So, it can either unleash all of your potential or show you new abilities, that you would have to work on to reach said potential…" Anthony began muttering to himself before she interrupted him.

"That doesn't matter, what matters is whether he can be hurt." She turned to Noct. "Can he? Is he…"

"It… depends. The trial awaiting people within the Sea of Eden is their negative aspects. You must accept everything about yourself to rise to your full power, the good, the bad, and the ugly. When confronting themselves in their Seas of Eden, it depended on the person. Some couldn't accept their own faults and rejected their other selves, having to fight for survival. Some could accept their faults easily. But since Nightmare is a conscious entity, personifying his negativity…"

"Then even if he could accept his faults, Nightmare and he will still fight," she finished sadly.

"Correct."

"But… he'll win! I know he will!" She shook her head with a determined gaze in her eyes and grasped the unconscious boy's hand, staring down at him. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw his lips flicker into a tiny smile, before going still again. "I believe in him… because friends support and believe in each other till the very end."

She squeezed his hand, and in the back of her mind, she thought she could feel their bond becoming just a bit stronger.

* * *

Sapphire looked down at his hand as he walked, having thought he felt the phantom sensation of someone squeezing it, before refocusing on finding his way through the mist that had engulfed the area. A pair of eyeballs with sparks of electricity coming from them shot out of the mist, but Friendship simply hit them with a wave of Fire, burning them to cinders.

"Can any of you tell how close we are to the thing?"

All three personifications of his emotions shook their heads. "No. We are just as lost as you," Friendship explained.

"However, as you've noticed, this is a path that you haven't taken yet," Wisdom added. "If there are no more splits, this will surely transport us towards the Sea."

He sighed and just nodded along to Wisdom's advice, continuing the trek along the stone path. The words turned out to be true, however, once they reached the metal tendril that stood silently on the stone dead end. "Alright, so now I touch it?"

He began reaching forward, only to pause as he noticed the fog begin to lift. It revealed the lone platform, with small metal tendril reaching and upwards, surrounded by a sea of knowledge and it struck him, that this place was his creativity. A doorway for the unconscious and subconscious, where the human mind expressed itself truly. He shook his head and touched the tendril, causing the world to warp.

The place he reappeared in seemed to be surrounded by stone walls, and there was no floor, simply water that came up to his waist. Said water was slowly morphing its way through a spectrum of colors, dark blue, green, black, cycling back over and over again. The walls too, stood tall above them with pointed tips and shifted slightly, mostly through browns and blacks.

They began wading through the water, making their way… well, there was no real way to tell, but it felt like east. This continued for a few minutes, just them continuing through the eerie silence, the only sound being the splash of water until there was a rumble. Several ripples splashed out of the water before a Kraken exploded upwards.

"Okay, this water is nowhere _near _deep enough for that to have hid in!" The Kraken simply roared and breathed flames down at them, while Friendship threw a PSI Shield over them, and Courage began Mirroring the Kraken.

The flames washed over their shield before a rocket fired by Wisdom flew out and detonated, causing the Kraken to screech and recoil. In that time Courage flashed with light, before becoming a mirror image of the Kraken and shooting forward to entangle it. Sapphire jumped up onto Courage's back and ran forward, twirling his Magicant Bat.

While the Kraken was restrained, he leaped up and yelled, before _smashing _down on its head. It roared in pain before he grasped its head and pumped a Hope into it, causing it to glow. It tried to shake him off, but it was too late as beams of light erupted from it before it exploded in a shower of gore.

He fell back down into the water, and shot his head up to breath. He stood up and washed the blood off of him, before waving at Courage. "Hey, don't transform back! We can ride you to Nightmare!" Courage nodded, and they all quickly climbed on. The now snake-like boy began weaving through the oddly calm water, making his way around a bend and to the north.

"Fair warning," Wisdom spoke up, "we might not be able to help you battle Nightmare."

"Why not?"

"With how much control the creature has over this area, he could very easily Teleport us away should we try to help. Even if we didn't, he may try."

"Makes sense. He doesn't seem like the kinda guy who'd fight fair," he joked.

"If he does simply get rid of us, know that we will still be by your side in spirit," Friendship nodded, still speaking in her monotone voice. It was really weird hearing that tone coming from Willow's body, but he was a bit used to it by now.

Two more Krakens suddenly sprung out of the water, but Friendship short one with several blasts of Thunder, and the other was swiftly taken out by Courage breathing Fire onto it. "These things are going down faster than the real one did…"

"Nightmare is most likely saving energy by not creating and sending powerful monsters after you now that you're close. Even if he did, he knows that with us here, the energy it would take you to defeat them would be less than what he expends."

The ride continued in silence after that, until something appeared in the distance. A lone island, with a familiar figure sat on it.

Nightmare.

His form looked the same as when they'd first met, a perverted version of himself in reds, blacks, and golds, with burning eyes and shadowy hair. He made no moves to rise, simply watching as they drew closer, idly tapping at the ground with one hand, _tap, tap, tap._

When Courage drew near, Nightmare tapped the ground harder, and with a bright flash of light Courage, Wisdom, and Friendship disappeared. He tumbled down before catching himself with a splash, and looking up at Nightmare.

_Tap, tap, tap._

He climbed up the stone staircase onto the small island, no, pedestal, that was only a few feet in diameter. Nightmare stared at him, an unrecognizable look in his eyes. "Nightmare. Here we are, just like you said."

_Tap, tap, tap._

"**Correct… here we are in the end… where it's kill or be killed."**

_Tap, tap, tap._

He stood there, watching his negative form, as the only thing to break the silence was Nightmare's tapping finger on the stone. "You know, we don't have to do this."

_Tap, tap, tap._

"**Oh? Says who?"**

_Tap, tap, tap._

"Says me, the owner of this place. Nightmare, I know you prioritize living over Giygas, so why can't you work with me? With our powers together and the rest of the Chosen, we could beat in Giygas' face! The heroes always win!"

_Tap, tap, tap._

"**Ha! Man, you've grown mature over this journey, but you still have some childish immaturity left over, don't you? Heroes **_**don't **_**always win, Sapphy. You're an idiot for thinking so. If I joined you, I'd just get killed with you."** Nightmare growled, and his tapping finger increased in speed.

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap._

"Nightmare, I know you were a spirit, or a bunch of spirits from the Mani-Mani that got fused to me, but—"

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. _

"**And that's just it! I'm NOT just that!" **Nightmare snarled, a dark fire blazing in his eyes. A fire that said he would kill. "**I'm my own being! Me! I deserve to live like anyone else! But instead I'm forced inside a statue for thousands of years, and the first thing that happens when I'm let out is I'm bound to you, forced to suffer even longer! And guess what happens if I work with you? I don't get to live as my own being, simply a parasite bonded to a** _**brat**_**! I'm simply forced to accept, 'I did the right thing,' while everyone else is happy! **

**Well, guess what, Sapphy?! I don't do the right thing! I'm Nightmare! Everything you hate about yourself! I'll kill, lie, maim, and torture to get my way! I'll **_**slaughter **_**our friends just for the **_**chance **_**to finally live, and there is nothing you can do to change my mind!"**

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap._

"Nightmare… you said our."

_Tap._

"You think of them… Wils, Noct, Ant… you think of them as your friends too. Because even if you're a being created out of pure negativity, you're still a part of me." He smiled and shook his head. "Nightmare… Sapphire. Sapphire, it's fine."

"**No, no, no…"**

"I'm you. And you're me."

"_**No no no no—"**_

"We're the same person, just… a bit split up. If you'll just accept—"

"_**SHUT UP!" **_He grunted and held up both arms to shield himself from the powerful winds that began buffeting him, and looked up to see that the small pedestal they'd stood on was now much larger, looking more like an arena now. And where Nightmare had stood was the Mani-Mani statue.

"What, you don't like what I'm saying so you throw a temper tantrum and hide in your room? Admit it, you're me, that's what I did when I got angry when I was younger!" The statue shook with rage, and Nightmare was probably yelling on the inside of it before it shot a wave of fire at him, which he Warped away from. "I've got to get him out of there… it'll shield him while he can still attack me."

Nightmare rumbled before a wave of Despair shot out of the statues' hands. He countered with a wave of Hope, and both blasts of energy struggled against each other before Despair slowly began overwhelming him. He grit his teeth, before Warping high above Nightmare and charging up another blast of Hope.

Nightmare's Mani-Mani form didn't move an inch, but it still shot another wave of Despair up at him. He simply grinned, and changed up his attack. Instead of firing a large, spread out Hope attack, he concentrated it into his palm and wound up as he fell, remembering many days of practicing his pitching. "How about this?!" He _launched _it downwards, where it easily broke through the Despair like a baseball through an expensive window, before exploding against Nightmare.

Before Nightmare could react to the attack, he quickly grabbed his Magicant Bat and used all of the momentum he'd gained from falling and spinning in one attack, _smashing _down _hard _onto Nightmare's head, completely shattering one of his horns and cracking the rest of his armored head.

Nightmare Warped away with a flash of red light and a pained hiss, and he could see the creature's dark eyes through a crack in its head. A few more solid hits and that statue shell would shatter. "Wow, Nightmare, I know you represent everything bad about me, but I didn't think that'd make you a coward!"

Nightmare growled, before sharp pillars of rock exploded from out of the ground, attempting to skewer him. "PSI Earth? No, wait, it's likely just him controlling the environment." He Warped out of the way of a pillar, before rolling to dodge another. A third caught his pajama shirt and tore it slightly, but he ignored it in favor of Warping in front of Nightmare and landing another attack on his front.

The statue form of Nightmare skid back several feet as more cracks ran along his front before Nightmare grunted as he kept up the barrage by Warping behind it and attacking its back. Nightmare suddenly let off a pulse of Despair, throwing him on his back and causing him to writhe as the energy flowed through his body. He groaned in agony before casting a Lifeup to heal himself, just in time to roll out of the way of several fireballs.

They splashed against the ground and he winced as their heat scorched his back, but he ignored it in favor of throwing a Shield over himself and charging at Nightmare. Another pillar shot out of the ground, but with his Shield protecting him it dad barely more than scratch him as he dove to the side, summoning a ball of flames to his free hand and launching it with precision accuracy at Nightmare's head.

Nightmare commanded a slab of stone to shoot out of the ground to protect him from the fire, but this blocked his view of him allowing him to get close and punch straight through the rock. He watched Nightmare's eyes widen behind the Statue armor before he grasped Nightmare's remaining horn and kicked at his body, tearing off the head of the statue and cracking the body further. He felt Nightmare suddenly grasp him in his telekinesis, but before he could get launched away he sent a blast of Hope out, which detonated and sent them flying apart.

He rolled across the ground before climbing to his feet, using an Alpha level Lifeup to heal his small scratches and wounds, and watched as Nightmare slowly got to his feet, the statue having been destroyed. "Ready to call it quits now, or what?"

"**Nah, I can still fight." **Nightmare looked like he had calmed down slightly, though he was still ready to fight. His gaze still smoldered, but it was tempered. A bat formed in his hands, looking more like Casey than his Magicant bat, and he narrowed his eyes at Nightmare as he raised his own bat.

Nightmare suddenly Warped, and he spun to meet the bat that came up to bash his face in. Their bats collided with a _clang, _and a few sparks flew from their weapons as they glared at each other. A flash of light exploded out of Nightmare, and he stumbled back blinded with tears running from his eye. "Mother-!"

Nightmare roared and swung, and he quickly rolled forward, dodging on pure instinct. He stumbled to his feet and heard the familiar sound of a bat whiffing through the air towards his head, and quickly held up his bat, gritting his teeth as the reverberations from the bats colliding echoed through his bones. Though he couldn't see he could guess where Nightmare was, and fired off a Paralysis.

He heard Nightmare grunt as the low powered electricity slammed into him, and he took the chance to use Healing, clearing the tears from his eyes. It was just in time to see several pillars of rock shoot towards him while NIghtmare backed off, orange electricity jumping from his body in arcs. He wound up and destroyed one and then another, feeling the rocks sprinkle against his Shield as the remaining pillars speared for his stomach and head.

He let out a pulse of Hope, shattering the pillars before Nightmare leaped through the debris and brought his bat down. Using his lessons from Noct he sidestepped and spun, _smashing _his Magicant bat into the back of Nightmare's head. Nightmare's eyes bulged from the hit and black blood spewed from his mouth and the back of his head. It was disconcerting to see happen to a copy of him, but at least he'd gotten a good hit on the guy.

Nightmare rolled across the ground and snarled, black ooze remarkably similar to what he coughed up whenever he fought for control with Nightmare in the real world leaking from him before he pulsed a Despair into the ground and shattered it, causing Sapphire to lose his footing. He stumbled and fell forward, dropping his bat so he could use his hands to keep his footing, and looked up just in time to see a concentrated ball of Despair erupt in his face.

He screamed as he fell back, agony erupting from his body, and he clawed at his face as an indescribable sensation flowed through his veins. It was like the inside of his body was simultaneously burning, freezing, and being pierced with thousands of needles. He was barely recovered by the time Nightmare was above him, and swinging down. His head slammed into the rock as Nightmare's bat bashed his head into the ground, and he felt warmth erupt from the side of his head.

He became dazed and lay there as the world became blurry, slowly trying to reach up and see what was so warm. He dragged his fingers along his scalp and let his hand flop down. Oh… it was blood. He was bleeding? Well, he did get hit… Should he heal? Probably… What was the thing he used to heal? Life… something? Lifeup, that was it. But what level? Alpha healed minor cuts and scrapes, and a few worse wounds, right? Beta healed a lot more, missing flesh and maybe cracked bones. Gamma… that was a perfect heal, it fixed everything, but didn't it waste a lot of energy?

Something slammed into the side of his head again, and more blood spurt out. His mind was slowing down. Shouldn't his Danger Sense have told him something was about to happen? Maybe Nightmare was preventing the Hawk-Eye from talking to him while he was in the Sea of Eden… Oh. He should probably heal. Lifeup γ. His wounds healed, and he was suddenly aware of the whistling noise of a bat coming down to crack his head open like an egg. He grunted and held his arms in an X formation, blocking the blow at the expense of feeling his bones crack from the force of the blow before he grabbed the bat and placed both feet against Nightmare's chest, kicking back with all of his strength and a pulse of Hope through his feet.

Nightmare was thrown back far, rolling across the ground, and snarled at him. He glared back, feeling slightly woozy from using so much PSI so quickly. How much did Nightmare have left? Did he have an unlimited amount, or was he also getting tired? He didn't have Danger Sense for some reason, but his instincts suddenly kicked in and he dodged a stone pillar that erupted from behind him. He looked up just in time for an orb of Darkness to slam into his face, and he cried out in shock as he was thrown back. "The hell?!"

"**Come on, think back on what good old Noct told us! Just like there's PSI for Light, Flash, there's PSI for Darkness!" **Several more blasts of dark energy flew forward, and he countered with blasts of Flash. A sudden pillar slammed into his back while he was distracted, and he cried out as he was tossed along the ground.

"Goddamn controlling the arena…" He grumbled before an idea popped up. Nightmare might have been able to control the Sea of Eden and bend it to his will, but so could he. It just took a lot more effort. He focused, and storm clouds began forming above them. Nightmare looked up in confusion, and then panic, as lightning rained down on him.

He Warped close to Nightmare, who was still disoriented from the lightning storm, and grasped his head, throwing his strongest Hope into the mirror's face. Nightmare's face began melting, revealing a disturbing skull-like face covered in tar-like ooze, before it opened its jaw and screeched, even more ooze erupting from it. He grimaced and blasted Nightmare as far away from him as he could, watching as the faceless creature roared in agony and rage.

"Damnit, calm the hell down already! I've proven that I can kick your ass from here to the entrance of Magicant, so just accept the loss already!"

"**NO! I REFUSE TO DIE! **_**I**_ _**REFUSE TO DIE!" **_Nightmare suddenly shuddered, before the black ooze erupting from his mouth intensified, and began swirling around his form. Sapphire grunted and Warped back several meters, but even then the force coming off of Nightmare's body whipped at him, slightly tearing at his clothes and causing shallow cuts to appear in his flesh.

The winds weren't clear, but dark and murky, filled with Nightmare's essence as the creature, because it wasn't wearing his skin and clothes anymore and was instead revealing its true form. A monster, made of negativity. The winds died down, revealing said monster. It was like something out of a movie, or that Doom game his dad played and let him watch, a demon, inhuman and grotesquely misshapen in the worst ways, yet retaining enough of its humanity to be unsettling.

Nightmare now stood at ten to eleven feet tall, its torso ragged and undulating, what might have been ribs sticking through its flesh, with several more sets than a human should have. Where its imitation shirt had been was now torn strips of not-cloth, mixing with the flesh and hanging from the bones. Its arms and legs looked unnaturally long and spindly for a creature of its size, and its elbows were too large for its flesh, erupting out of its arms and leaking fluid, while its fingernails were more like claws, erupting from its hands with black blood, and twitching with a need to rip and tear.

Its legs followed the same pattern, seemingly not having enough flesh or muscle to hold its large body up, and its bones visibly poking through at its knees and feet while its feet were more like paws with claw-like nails erupting through the remains of its copied shoes. Its back, visible due to how hunched over Nightmare now was, had its spine erupting from it, bones much sharper than they should have been, and going from the back of its pelvis up to its neck, splitting said neck nearly in two with how large the vertebrae were.

Its face, debatably, was the worst part with how almost-human it was. It had the general shape of a human skull, but the mouth was stuck in a constant scream with blood dripping out from between and beneath rotten teeth. Its nose was still there, but not connected, not enough flesh to hold it in place, yet just enough to keep it hanging disgustingly, swinging back and forth as Nightmare took labored tortured breaths. The hair atop its head wasn't there, instead, bones from the skull erupted out, and brain-flesh crawled out, pulsating and breathing. Its eyes though… they held intelligence yet soullessness, glowing white with hatred.

Sapphire took a shaky step back, his hands growing clammy. Just… just what the hell had Nightmare become?!

"**Geh…" **Nightmare wheezed, and it took him a moment to realize that the creature was laughing as it took a shaky step forward, the ground beneath it cracking. "**I am… a monster, a creature born to kill… Your death will give birth to my new life, and I can truly live…"**

"That… That won't happen!" He swallowed his fear and ran charged forward with a roar, twirling the Magicant Bat. Nightmare wheezed out its laughter once more, swinging an elongated arm down at him, which he rolled under. He jumped to his feet and swung, _smashing _Nightmare's leg. The creature howled as blackness spurted from the wound, causing him to flinch back in surprise and letting Nightmare slam its claws against him.

He screamed as they gouged at his cheek and he flew back, twirling in the air before slamming into the ground. "Li… Lifeup β!" His wounds healed, and he got up just in time for Nightmare to grab him by the shirt and lift him to eye level. He stared into Nightmare's eyes, before gathering his saliva and spitting into its eye. Nightmare roared in anger as it flinched back and gave him the chance to break free. He wiggled and tore his shirt, falling to the ground, before jumping up and grasping two of Nightmare's protruding ribs. He shivered at the sensation, before pulsing his Gift into the monster. "Hope γ!"

Nightmare roared as the attack pulsed through its veins and erupted, but only stumbled back instead of flying back. It lifted its arms and began slamming them into the ground in a rage, flailing wildly and destroying the rock in an attempt to kill him. He grunted as rocks shot up and cut into him, before one of Nightmare's arms whacked his side, causing him to scream as he felt something break and he was tossed halfway across the 'arena' before slamming into one of the stone walls.

"Gah!" He cried out and watched Nightmare's form, narrowing his eyes. "S-Son of a bitch… You've got a real flair for the dramatic, don't you?"

"**That's one thing we have in common," **Nightmare said as he laughed his sickly laugh. "**Maybe our last name is Starr for a reason, we have to be the stars of the show! You can't handle being anything less!"**

He hissed and felt blood dripping from his mouth as he slowly got up, clutching his side where the white-hot agony originated from. "Lifeup β!" His broken bone fixed itself, and he looked up just in time to see Nightmare tossing several waves of Despair at him. "Shit!" He attempted to control the environment, creating a stone shield around himself that he then filled with Hope to counter the Despair.

The rock rumbled and he winced when the first wave impacted before there was a second, then a third, then a fourth. It continued, before suddenly stopping. He blinked in surprise before his instincts warned him to dodge. He Warped, no destination in mind besides _not there, _and watched as Nightmare descended from a high jump and crushed the stone shield. Unfortunately for the monster, it still had energy from Hope and exploded, causing it to scream and rage even more. One of the shards of rock flew directly towards Sapphire, and he narrowed his eyes before winding up and batting the rock, sending it flying directly towards Nightmare's head.

Nightmare, having heard the _crack_ of his bat, turned directly towards him which led to the sharp rock embedding itself into its eye. It screeched and held its head, which only caused it to begin cutting itself up even more with its giant claws as blood spurt from its ruined eye. If he could attack more from a distance… He felt a weight on his hip and looked down, spotting his long-forgotten slingshot and pellet bag that he had stopped using after he got better with his PSI. He grabbed it and several pellets, before filling each with PSI Hope. They glowed brightly and he nocked them in his slingshot. "Hey, Nightmare!"

"**You…" **Nightmare snarled and looked at him with its one good eye, only to see what he had planned.

"Eat shit asshole!" he let loose, and a dozen pellets filled with PSI embedded themselves in Nightmare's flesh, before exploding and sending flesh, bone, and blood flying. He Warped forward, right above Nightmare, and stomped down with full force. Nightmare screamed as it crushed its overgrown brain, trying to reach up towards him, but it was too late as he wound up and slammed his bat down over and over again, bashing Nightmare's brain in.

Nightmare stumbled and flawed up at him, only succeeding in damaging its own brain with how unwieldy its claws were. He jumped off and powered up a Hope Fastball, before launching it directly into Nightmare's putrid face. The monster stumbled, leaning back as the ball of energy dug into it before the attack exploded, raining gore down around them.

He grinned, thinking he'd felled Nightmare's hideous form, only for the blood bursting from its body to increase in power and amount. The ooze washed over its body and it began increasing in size before it slowly rose up onto its legs. Or, more accurately, it's multiple sets of legs.

Its body had become more bulky, no longer looking as emaciated and instead having more flesh and muscle, although bones still stuck out along the front of its body. Bulges began appearing between several sets of ribs before with an explosion of black sludge several more arms and legs shot out and began clawing at the ground. They had no bones and so flopped onto the ground before Nightmare began lifting itself like a massive humanoid spider.

Several of its arms clawed towards him, and its body hunkered forward before twisting and possibly snapping its neck to look up at him, sludge dripping from its mouth. "**I can't… I can't… can't… can't… can't…" **Nightmare's eyes no longer held any sanity in them, simply pure despair, and his words were beginning to breakdown. The next thing he noticed was the deep blue tint they now held. The same tint that most creatures held when under Giygas' influence. "**S… A… P… P… H… I… R… E… H… E… L… P…"**

He winced and fell to one knee, grasping his head as memories flashed through his head of a nightmare he had. His friends, dead. Bodies were broken. A crying voice that wasn't human and was human and wasn't and was and wasn't… his head spun and he fell to both knees, his head pounding.

Memories overwhelmed him. When he'd first fought the Titanic Ant he thought it was familiar. It was. All his life, his precognition was warning him in his dreams of what was to come. They were becoming clear. The yawning abyss that was Giygas flickered, replacing Nightmare's tortured form, which was crawling closer. How could they beat that?! It was a demon! Immortal! It was… it was like…

Like a God of darkness and decay!

**Ω**

"What's going on?!"

"I don't know!" Anthony snapped, taking Sapphire's pulse. "His heart rate is through the roof! It could fail at any time now!"

"Noct!" She turned to him and he looked at her with wide eyes, for the first time since she'd met him fear shining through them.

"I-I… I don't…"

She felt angry, frustrated tears come to her eyes, and she shoved Anthony out of the way, kneeling next to Sapphire's spasming form. He'd begun to have a seizure a minute earlier out of nowhere, eyes darting left and right, unseeing, yet filled with intense fear. "Please… Sapphire… whatever you're seeing, whatever you're fighting, don't give in…"

**Ω**

He'd lost hope. The moment the memories slammed into him he felt weakened as if the blasts of Despair really had robbed him of all light.

Sapphire choked as Nightmare controlled by Giygas held him up by the throat, staring fearfully into the creature's empty yet hungry eyes. Its unhinged jaw opened further than physically possible, and razor-sharp teeth glistened with black sludge. This was how he died? A corrupted alter-ego version of himself controlled by an ageless evil? At least it was dramatic…

"**S… A… P… P… H… I… R… E…"**

He felt his hope frain from his body. It was as if Despair had truly stripped him of all Hope the moment Nightmare transformed.

It began stretching its neck forward like a snake, unhinging and snapping each vertebra to gain more distance. An accidental whimper escaped his mouth. He tried to lift his hands and light them up, but Nightmare gripped his throat harder, cutting off his oxygen completely. Well, at least he wouldn't be conscious for this part… He finally blacked out, his body going limp.

His heart stopped.

...

...

...

...

P...se

do...t

g...ve

i...n

A voice...

"…?" His eyes fluttered, and his heart began beating. "W…i…llow?"

**Ω**

She felt tears stream down her cheeks as she clutched at his chest, her throat dry and hoarse from screaming.

In the background, she could hear Anthony shouting at Noct about how they should have taken Sapphire to a hospital, and Noct coldly arguing back that there was nothing the hospital could have done. Why were they talking like he was dead? He couldn't be… he wasn't… He wasn't dead!

His body had stopped spasming a few minutes earlier, but then he stopped breathing and his heart had stopped. But he… couldn't…

"…? W…i…llow?" her eyes shot open and she snapped her head to the side, unsure if what she heard was real. Sapphire was completely still, but his chest… was rising and falling very slowly.

"Sapphire? Sapphire?!" He didn't respond, but when she grasped his hand, she thought she could feel him clench his hand briefly.

"What, is he alright?!"

"Starr-San?!"

"H-He's breathing again, but it's slowing down again!"

Anthony places his hands on Sapphire, and grit his teeth. "Just like his breathing, his pulse started up but it's slowing down again!"

"Noct… this coma thing has to do with his mindscape and fighting his negativity?"

"Yes, correct!"

"Then… what if we just try and stay near him? Keep him company, remind him we're here? I saw on television that people can hear people talk while in a coma?"

"Gah… I don't know… this isn't any normal sickness…" Anthony rubbed his forehead before sitting down and grasping Sapphire's other hand while Noct silently grabbed Sapphire's shoulder.

"We're here for you, Sapphire… please, we know that whatever you're going through, you can get through it. You're our leader, Noct's Master, Anthony's favorite annoyance, and my… you're the person I'm closest to… please, for all of us, come back…" she squeezed her eyes shut and felt tears threaten to escape and run down her cheeks again before she leaned forward to whisper into his ear. "I… love you…"

**Ω**

…

He heard... He heard it all...

His fists clenched.

He'd fight on...

That was… he could hear their voices. Someone was grasping his hand… his eyes fluttered open and he saw the gaping maw of Nightmare draw closer, large enough to swallow him whole and teeth buzzing like saws. Could this thing even _try _to get more eldritch?

He weakly reached up, grasping at the clawed hand holding him, his hands like lumps of clay that he could barely control. He had to… he thought he heard their voices, telling him to fight. He had no energy left though… but at the same time… they were counting on him…

He could… still… Energy crackled around his hands and he began gripping Nightmare's claw, blood and saliva dripping from his mouth as he growled and began pulling. He managed to loosen Nightmare's grip and breathed in deeply. Noct, Anthony, Willow… Dad, Mom, Tracey, Picky, everyone in Onett, the friends he'd made in Twoson then Threed then on and on. They were counting on him!

With some oxygen in his brain, he was able to actually think for a moment and remembered an item he'd picked up earlier. In a flash, the Bag of Dragonite was in his hands, and he grinned before pouring it on himself.

Pain. He screeched almost as inhumanely as Nightmare did while his body began contorting and cracking, limbs stretching and growing. He felt his weight increase before Nightmare dropped him out of shock. He hit the ground sooner than he should have, and looked down to see much longer, bright blue scaled legs. He suddenly fell forward onto all fours and looked down at Nightmare. He was only a foot taller, but that made all the difference when he'd been getting choked to death a moment earlier.

He felt a mental clock go off, and he knew he didn't have long in his new form. He breathed in, before unleashing a wave of fire that Willow would be jealous of. Nightmare screeched as it burned, and he quickly headbutt the creature, skewering it on two horns that had grown from his head. Nightmare flew back, landing in the water that had been splashing against the side of their little arena. Inspiration struck. He commanded the water to change, and suddenly Nightmare was surrounded by a sea of oil.

He let a malicious grin cross his draconian features, before unleashing a wave of fire that lit the entire sea alight and caused Nightmare to howl in agony. He transformed back into his human form with a smirk on his face, before a flaming arm suddenly smacked him backward.

He rolled across the floor, wheezing for breath and tried to summon up PSI to heal, before wincing as a PSI-induced migraine slammed into him. Nightmare slowly crawled back up, flesh burning and melting off of its body, bones protruding even more easily. They were both heavily injured. But he had the backing of his friends. Time to finish it.

He slowly stood up and looked down at his torn clothes, before commanding them to transform into his normal outfit. He held a hand out and a moment later Casey disappeared from the real world and appeared in his hand with a comforting chime in his head. He smiled before his eyes trailed to Nightmare's body which was trying to pull itself back together. The monster roared, before slamming a flailing and flaming arm into the ground and sending a massive wave of Despair screaming towards him. He narrowed his eyes and commanded the ground to open up a hole large enough to sheath Casey in, and slammed the weapon down into said sheath before pouring a small amount of PSI into the runed baseball bat.

Casey glowed with power, and he shielded himself behind the bat, letting Casey's endurance empower him and survive the wave of Despair. He grunted, feet skidding along the rock before the wave died down and he smirked as he stood tall. He raised a single hand, powering up with his Gift, red, yellow, and blue flowing through his veins and into his hand where it became an orb of power. However, along the way several of his veins glowed differently, pink, white, and black. Willow, Anthony, and Noct. All of them were giving him their energy.

He wasn't sure what to call the attack… it wasn't his Hope, though it did hold part of his power. Something to think about for another time. What he did know was that the attack would rid his mind of Nightmare and Giygas forevermore. "This is the Hope of the Chosen." He spoke before letting the attack fly, it's several colors highlighting the area before impacting. Nightmare's misshapen head snapped back as the twirling ball of power dug into it, growing as it got ready to detonate. "Begone."

It exploded, and he slid back a few feet even though he was a few dozen meters from the center of the blast, a wave of heat washing over him. He looked up to see Nightmare's body begin to dissolve, leaving only a corpse of a boy which was also beginning to disappear. A quick Warp later and he was looking down at the boy.

Nightmare smirked up at him, speaking in a voice that held none of the malice, hate, or power that it once did. "**You finally beat me…"**

"So I did."

"**And now, you go on to save the world…"**

"Yep. You coming or what?"

"**Don't you dare… taunting me like this…" **Nightmare spat out more ooze, wheezing and coughing. However, his head shot to the side when Sapphire suddenly kicked him with a stern look.

"I'm not taunting you dipshit. Listen. As much as you hate to admit it, you're a part of me. I realized it a while back, and even though I made the agreement to let you out because you would save my friends, I kept letting you out because I thought it would help you."

"**Help… me? Ha…" **Nightmare snorted weakly but grew silent when Sapphire stared at him disapprovingly and kneeled down. "**I'm not…"**

"You _are _me. A part of me. Even if you were empowered by dark spirits and Giygas' influence, the core of you… is me."

Nightmare stared, silent, before slowly getting up. "**If I'm… if I'm not my own person… I don't want to die..."**

"You _won't _die. Nightmare, do you feel complete?"

**"…"**

"Neither do I. I got used to the feeling after a while, but… when we separated, we both lost vital pieces of ourselves. My negativity was absorbed into you, and you used that to influence me to get me mad or angry, which is why I didn't notice it missing most of the time. And it's the same for you. You have no joy or happy emotions, but when I let you out I also let you have some of them. Don't you remember feeling joy and stuff when I let you out in Scaraba when you swam for the first time?"

Nightmare froze, and he smiled as he grasped his darker counterpart's shoulder. "Please. If we have any chance of stopping Giygas… of saving _our _family. Of protecting _our _friends… then you need to accept it. You won't die. I won't die. We'll become whole."

There was a moment of silence before Nightmare took a deep breath and smiled. His appearance slowly changed, his mirror outfit slowly transforming into a copy of his own. No longer did he wear black with red and gold, but now blue. His skin became less pale, matching his own tone while his hair became less shadowy and more naturally raven-colored. And the biggest change, his eyes no longer were red black and gold, but now looked at least partially normal. The only thing different between them was that Nightmare's irises glowed a dull yellow, but no longer was it menacing.

"**It's be**en so long…" Nightmare whispered as his voice transitioned to normal, matching his.

"Yep. I'm glad to have you back."

"My name…" he smiled, "I'm no longer Nightmare. I never was… this whole time I was simply a shadow of you."

"We were each other's shadows," he chuckled back.

"Yes… I'm you, and you're me. I promise that I'll never lose sight of that again." Shadow Sapphire smiled at him, and he grinned back. Shadow Sapphire began glowing, before disappearing in flecks of golden light. Sapphire was alone now, in the Sea of Eden, but he didn't feel like he was. His Shadow was back, fully integrated with him. He was whole.

"_Sapphire…"_

He peeked up at the Hawk-Eye's voice and turned to see the blue-clad version of himself. "Oh, hey. What's up?"

"_I've come to say goodbye. My main purpose was to aid you through Deep Darkness, and overstayed my welcome to aid you with Shadow Sapphire's previous form of Nightmare."_

"What, is today 'get rid of all the voices in your head' day? Hawk-Eye, if you want to stay you can."

"_No, it is time I left. But there's something you should know. At the end, when Nightmare was controlled by Giygas... "_

"Yeah, what the heck was up with that? I know that Giygas can influence people, but to have that strong of control? The Mani-Mani was destroyed, so how could Giygas have controlled Nightmare like that?"

"_Because there is a bit of his essence in us all, and he's getting closer. Sapphire… have you ever thought on why no one seems to care about the psychic abilities you and your companions display?"_

"Uh… wow, I never really noticed…"

"_Exactly. That is because of Giygas. Just as he brings out the evil thoughts in people's minds, he affects them in other ways. At the beginning of your journey, people thought that animals were behaving oddly. As time went on, people cared less and less, even when it wasn't just animals, but monsters, and then people. People should be in awe at your abilities. In Twoson Willow was known as the girl with special powers, but soon after the invasion began, people cared less and less."_

"Right… so basically even people who are resistant to Giygas can be partially affected. And everyone is else is, what, turning a blind eye because of Nightmare?"

"_Correct. And also… once Giygas has been defeated, people may very well forget all that you have done."_

"What?! Why?!"

"_Because as Giygas' influence is ripped from their minds, their minds will try and return to normality, and as psionic abilities are not normal, people will refuse those memories and push them down. Perhaps they will think the wild animals were because of a disease, and the monsters were some form of mass-prank or hysteria. That is easier for the human mind to belieive than aliens or magical abilities. The only people likely to remember will be those close to you."_

"Ugh… I mean, I'm still going to stop Giygas, but having people know what I did and be thankful for it would be nice… Heh, guess Nightmare was right when he said I liked being the Starr of the show."

"_In any case, this is goodbye. I bid thee well, Leader of the Chosen Four." _

Just as Shadow Sapphire had disappeared, the Hawk-Eye did as well. But there was no sense of completion as there had been with his Shadow. This time, the Hawk-Eye simply vanished. "Well… I suppose that's that."

He closed his eyes and focused on the feeling that had been rising since he re-combined with his Shadow. There was a voice that rang out, sounding oddly familiar. "_Giygas' goal is to destroy you."_

"Duh."

"_Quiet! Ahem… You must listen carefully. Everything in the universe could be destroyed at the hands of Giygas." _

"Right, that's what I'm trying to stop."

"_Yep. But he and his followers are also in trouble. The Apple of Enlightenment has foretold that Giygas' plan will fail. This will be because of a boy named Sapphire. That's us!"_

Ah, now he knew why the voice was familiar. When you talked or thought, you don't hear your real voice. That voice was just what he actually sounded like. "What even is the Apple of Enlightenment anyway?"

"_Hey man, don't ask me. I've got no idea. A-Anyway! It's time to free your mind. You know what you must do. Your destiny has already been decided."_

"Hm. So, where do I go?"

"_Where do you think? It's deep within your heart, you know already."_

He closed his eyes and focused. His mind flashed, and he felt the Sea of Eden's waves begin to rise. He saw it… a small valley… Saturn Valley.

"_Correct. Magicant is the world within your mind, return here whenever you wish."_ The voice grew silent, and he was left alone with the feeling of power that was still growing within him.

He focused, not trying to force the power out but instead coax it out. The power rippled and responded easily to him, bubbling up like a spring. He suddenly gasped as his muscles tensed, and his hidden potential was revealed. Giant Step, Lilliput Steps, Milky Well, Rainy Circle, Magnet Hill, Pink Cloud, Lumine Hall, Fire Spring, they all offered up their power, as he in turn fully understood them. Eight points along the earth, all ringing out to him, offering their strength. He felt his heart lurch as the power continued to fill him. It was not just his hidden potential, there was another power. The very earth itself was gifting him strength. It was crying out to be saved from Giygas and his darkness.

He wouldn't let it down.

Energy crackled around his palms, and he brought them up.

_Hope Ω._

_Flash Ω._

_Despair ɑ, β, γ, Ω._

_Teleport β._

There was another… one final power, but it wasn't time. The earth soothed him, telling him there was no need to understand it yet. The time would come.

His mind went into overdrive, and suddenly he was at Giant Step overlooking Onett. Then he was at Lilliput steps, watching the valley. Then, Milky well. Then the next Sanctuary, and the next, over and over, cycling from Fire Spring back to Giant Step, over and over, faster and faster, until his eyes snapped open.

Willow, Noct, and Anthony were staring down at him, silent, and he stared back. Everything was silent for a few moments before he grinned. "I have transcended death, bow to me, mortals."

Anthony let out a heavy breath, collapsing to his knees while Noct's face lit up with joy, and Willow threw herself forward, crying into his shoulder. Anthony held his head in his hands and shook, "I-I… if god does exist, thank you for bringing Sapphire back."

"Well, I'd say I am god, yes, and I appreciate your thanks," he joked.

Noct didn't move, even though he clearly looked like he wanted to. "Starr-San, I knew you could… I knew you would overcome whatever awaited you in your Sea, and-"

"Noct, why don't we drop the honorifics. Your one of my closest friends, so I'm fine with you calling me Sapphire."

"I-I… of course, Sapphire…" as the Prince rubbed unshed tears from his eyes, he turned his head to Willow.

"Hey, Willow… It's okay… I'm right here…"

"Y-Y-You dummy! Why would you worry me like that?! How could you?! I thought t-t-that I lost you!" She sobbed and hiccuped, tears and snot flowing, but he didn't care. He smiled and leaned forward, hugging her into him.

"It's okay… I'm right here."

"I-I-Idiot!" She stuttered as she gasped for breath, balling up her fists in his shirt. "Why would… how could you do that when I-I-I…"

He smiled and began combing his hand through her hair, shushing her. "I heard you the first time… It's what gave me the strength to keep fighting, you know. If you're uncomfortable saying it again-"

"NO!" She shouted, shaking her head wildly and accidentally smacking Anthony with some of her blond hair. "That one… it didn't count! You couldn't respond! So…" She looked him dead in the eye, and he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was even when she was a crying wreck. "I love you!"

They both blushed, but he pushed through it to smile even though he wanted to grin widely. "I love you too, Wils."

"Should we leave, or…?" He laughed, and grabbed Anthony, pulling him into the hug. "Nah, me and Willow may be dating now, but I love you guys too! The love between me and you two boys is just platonic, friendship love!"

"Ugh…" nevertheless, Anthony leaned into the hug.

"Hey, Noct, still plenty of room over here for someone else."

"It's alright, Sapphire—" he didn't let Noct finish, instead using Telekinesis to pull the boy over. There was no strain from it, either because Noct didn't resist, or his power-up also included his Telekinetic abilities. Perhaps both. They all hugged each other before Anthony spoke up.

"Hey, anyone notice Sapphire swearing less?"

"It's because I defeated Nightmare. His influence on my mind is gone now. I'll admit I liked cursing, but Nightmare could influence me in passive ways and made me more rude and other such things."

"I didn't really care, just something I noticed."

Willow giggled weakly and closed her eyes. "I'm tired…"

"I've been sleeping for…?"

"Two and a half days."

"That long. I cannot sleep anymore. It is physically impossible."

"Well, _we _are tired. So deal with it!" He just chuckled at her pout and nodded.

Anthony and Noct looked at each other and rolled their eyes before walking to their own beds. He waited to see if Willow would go too, but when she didn't he just reached down and grabbed the blanket that was probably kicked off the bed by him, and covered himself and his… girlfriend. He felt a smile grow again and closed his eyes as he lay back.

"Hey," Willow whispered, "Want to go on a date tomorrow? Since we're… y'know… dating?"

He nodded, hugging her closer. "We've got to go to Saturn Valley soon, but yeah. I'd love to."

They quickly fell asleep in each other's arms, and the night passed peacefully.

One of the remaining few nights before chaos would engulf the earth.

* * *

**I may not be able to upload next week for reasons, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter a few days early just in case. If it turns out I can upload, then you'll simply be getting the next chapter then.**

* * *

**HOLY SHIT THAT CHAPTER WAS AS LONG AS MY [Redacted.] ʸᵒᵘ ʷᶦˡˡ ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ʳᵉᵃᶜʰ ᵗʰᵉ ᵗʳᵘᵗʰ**

**In any case, another chapter down. Lovecraft and Eldritch abominations and stuff like that are awesome. Old Gods that can cause you to die just because you looked at them, not even that they noticed you since humans are ants compared them, just that _our brains cannot comprehend them._ It's awesome. So I'm sure it's easy to see where a lot of Nightmare's battle came from.**

**Having the Chosen appear as Courage, Wisdom, and Friendship was something I planned simply because it's a line that isn't used much besides 'y'all need this to save the world have fun.' Ah, and Shadow Sapphire being Nightmare's true form. "I am a Shadow, the TRUE self." Yaes, twas mah plan all along. Hope that was fun.**

**Anyway, we're nearing the end now... I don't want to make an assumption on how many chapters are left, but definitely not many. It'll be my first finished story on this site... Afterward, I'll get back to working on A New Dawn and Worlds Apart, which I only stopped working on because I overestimated myself and couldn't do three stories at once, and since I was on a roll with BBOH, I figured I may as well focus on this. There is, in fact, a sequel planned for BBOHs, but considering where I am with AND and WA, that could be a very long way away... **

**I suppose our journey will be ending soon. So, if you liked the chapter, please comment on what you liked, or just a 'nice,' both are great to read.**

**See y'all next time! **


	32. Chapter 32: Love and War

Chapter Thirty-Two: Love and War

Sapphire looked down at his burger, biting into it while Willow nibbled on her fries. There was an awkward air, neither of them watching each other. "Sooo…" he didn't continue, letting the word hang.

Outside, Anthony facepalmed while Noct watched curiously. "This does not seem to be going well."

"Oh, you think?!"

"I wonder why. They have good chemistry…"

It's because they're making it more complicated than it needs to be," Anthony explained. "They're already best friends, they could just do what they've always done and joke around or something, but they assume that because they're dating they have to be 'incredibly romantic.' Honestly, they should just act natural. I assumed they would get together sooner with how natural their chemistry was." Noct turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"That is good advice. I believe I should go and tell Master that so his date goes well."

"No, you fool!" Too late, Noct was already walking inside the diner. "Goddamnit, at least try and be subtle!"

Noct was not. He walked over to their table and spoke in a stilted tone of voice. "Master. Willow."

"Oh! Noct, what're you doing here?" Willow questioned, confused.

"Yes. What indeed?" Sapphire asked, more suspicious than his girlfriend.

"Um. I am simply here to get food for myself and Anthony. Nothing more."

"Yeah. And then you walk right to our booth."

"I spotted you and wanted to say hi."

"Okay. Hi."

"…"

"…"

"Anyway, I believe that you two should just act naturally and I'm sure your date will go well. Goodbye." Noct turned and walked out, and Sapphire looked outside to see a shock of blond hair duck behind a bush.

"That was not subtle at all!" He heard Anthony hiss as the door closed. "You didn't even get food!"

"Should I go back?"

"No, you idiot!"

"I will shred them to their last atom," he muttered, hands pulsing with energy.

He paused when he heard a giggle, and turned to see Willow holding her mouth. "He isn't very good at acting, is he?"

"He's great in a fight, but I don't think he has a career as an actor. Better that he stays a Prince." He grinned and shrugged while she shook her head.

"Maybe!" The air became much less awkward as they began joking about topics like they normally did before finishing their meal and walking towards the Onett movie theater. "So…" Willow fiddled with her fingers, a blush on her face. "Why do you like me?"

"Oh, well…" he blushed as well but smiled anyway. "It's because of how cheerful you are. You can bring a smile to anyone's face, and you always make my day brighter. Plus, you're fun and energetic to be around, and you're honest with your feelings."

"But I hid for a while…"

"Maybe, but I think I know why. You didn't want to distract us from finding the Sanctuaries with drama, right?" When she nodded, he continued. "Then that's alright. I can understand that, I mean, saving the world is a pretty big deal. So… why did _you_ start to like _me_?"

"Well, you were a lot like a knight saving the princess when you rescued me back in Happy-Happy, so it probably started there," She giggled, sticking her tongue out. "But, It was also because… well, kind of the same reasons. You're so bright and always support the people around you, and it even shows in your Gift, it's called Hope for a reason!"

He laughed, "Well you're the one with the golden hair, I'd say you're more bright than I am."

"Guess you're right, my precious gemstone!" he coughed on his saliva as Willow giggled.

"C-Come on, don't call me that! IT's embarrassing enough when my mom does it..."

"Nope~! Since I'm dating you, I get to call you that now!"

"Oh yeah, well how would you like it if I called you…" He tried to think up a good nickname, but nothing came to mind. "Uhh… Sunshine?"

"Hmm… I like it! From now on you're my gemstone, and I'm your sunlight!"

"Wait, it's supposed to be an annoying nickname!" Willow just giggled and hugged his arm while he groaned, though he couldn't keep the smile from his face.

Noct nodded as he watched them walk away, "I knew I could do it without being suspicious."

Anthony just slammed his head into the wall.

* * *

After watching a horror movie that had Willow grinning and Sapphire shrieking, Sapphire suddenly got an idea. "Hey, my mom and sis haven't met you, Noct, or Ant yet, right? Want to get everyone and go meet them?"

"Oh, I'm meeting your parents already?" She teased with a grin. Inside she was nervous, but she had to take the opportunity to tease him!

"I-I, well—" he blushed and shook his head. "You know that's not what I meant!" She began laughing, and he pouted. "I could end you with a thought!"

"Sure you could," she giggled.

He raised a hand and let it crackle with energy threateningly, only to let it rest on her head and cause her golden locks to poof out.

"Hey!" She reached up and felt her poofy hair, before pouting at him.

"You're the one who challenged me," he smirked.

She quickly retaliated with a shock of her own, causing them to gain matching hairstyles as his hat popped off his head from the sudden poof. He slowly looked down at his hat, before looking back up at Willow. "You dare—"

"Yeah yeah, you're gonna say 'you dare challenge me mortal?' And then you're gonna do something blah blah blah. That's overdone again this point!"

"Hey, it's one of my catchphrases! Catchphrases can't be overdone!" She just stuck her tongue out and he grasped his heart. "I've been wounded. The very core of my being has been attacked. Who am I, without my catchphrases?"

"I'm here for you in this trying time," she consoled, patting his shoulder. They made their way back to their small cliff-side house after getting their hair under control to grab Anthony and Noct, who also expressed an interest in meeting his family.

As they walked out of the house, a familiar man appeared from nowhere.

You know. As you do.

"Photos taken instantaneously! I'm a photographic genius, if I do say so myself!"

"The return," Anthony said deadpan.

"Photoman part two, electric boogaloo."

"Photoman two, judgment day."

"The Photoman strikes back."

The Photoman rolled his eyes. "Are we taking the picture or not?"

"Sure," he shrugged. "Let's get it over with." Anthony adjusted his glasses and moved to the side with a small smirk, while Noct moved behind everyone since he was the tallest and rested against Faithkeeper, implanted in the ground. Willow smiled brightly and leaned against Sapphire, wrapping her arms around his own, and he stood in the center of everyone, hugging Willow back while grinning and wrapping his other arm around Anthony's neck and giving a peace sign. "Everyone ready?"

When the Photoman saw everyone nod he grinned and hit the button on his camera. "Say Fuzzy Pickles!" After the flash, the Photoman was gone, so they just shook their heads and made their way north.

As they walked, a cop car rolled by and out popped Captain Strong. "Hey, you! Sapphire, right?"

Sapphire started, before nodding. "Uh, yes sir. You remember me?"

"Sure do! You gave me and my boys one hell of a wallop!" The man chuckled and scratched his head. "Just wanted to say sorry about all that. I wanted to make sure you could handle yourself out there with all those animals roaming around."

"Oh. Well, uh, it's fine. I guess I got some good experience with fighting people thanks to fighting you."

"Well, all's well that ends well! See you around, kid!" With that, the captain drove off.

"What was that about?"

"To leave Onett and find Willow I had to fight him and a couple of other cops."

"Isn't… that police brutality?"

"Well, they would have stopped before I was too hurt. I think. And like he said, it was to make sure I could handle myself."

"If ya say so…"

The path towards his house didn't have any snakes, dogs or crows waiting for them, but he thought he could see a few hiding out behind trees every once in a while. Their strength was probably enough that the animal's survival instinct was stronger than Giygas' influence.

"Oh, is that your palace?" Noct questioned, pointing towards his house.

"Dude its a house, not a palace."

"Ah."

"The sad part is I can't tell if he's messing with us," Anthony muttered to him, causing him to snicker.

He walked up to the door and knocked. A few moments passed before it unlocked and his mom was there. "Sapphire! My, you've been showing up a lot!"

"Yeah, guess so," he laughed. "Ma, I want to introduce you to my friends!" He stepped to the side to motion towards his fellow Chosen.

Anthony held his hand out and nodded, "hello ma'am, my name is Anthony Andonuts. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"What a gentleman! Have you tried teaching my gemstone those manners?"

"I've tried, but it appears to be useless."

"Say that to my face! And mom, don't call me that in front of my friends!"

She ignored him, turning to Noct. The boy stepped forward and gave a bow, "Konichiwa, Starr-San. It is a pleasure to meet Master's matriarch."

"Well then, I don't think I've ever heard of a mother being called that!" She laughed.

"He's a prince of a faraway kingdom," Anthony explained.

"My turn, my turn!" Willow jumped forward and smiled widely. "I'm Willow!"

"Oh, my gemstone's girlfriend, correct?" She asked with a teasing grin directed at him. When he just blushed and looked away but didn't correct her, her eyebrows shot you and she looked at Willow who was also blushing now. He grabbed Willow's hand and smiled.

"Well… yes. That would be correct." He cleared his throat and felt his blush grow larger.

"I-It's nice to meet you, Miss Starr…"

His mom suddenly squealed and hugged them both. "Oh my, I was just teasing, I didn't expect this! When did you start dating?! Have you gone on any dates yet?! When am I getting grandkids?!"

"Mom!" He pushes away and waved his arms. "We've only been dating for, like, not even a full day! Yes, we've gone on a date, we got burgers and shakes and went to a movie, AND YOU AREN'T GETTING GRANDKIDS ANY TIME SOON!"

"But I'll be getting them eventually~!" She sang.

"Your end draws near," he hissed.

"This is quite entertaining," Anthony smirked.

"Willow seems rather embarrassed though. Why? I know that when I choose my wife having children to be my heirs will be necessary."

Willow just blushed harder and buried her face in Sapphire's shirt, while his mom's face lit up. "Oh! Tracey hasn't even heard!"

"No, wait—!"

"Tracey, come meet your brother's girlfriend!"

"Ugh…"

"WHAT?!" Tracey appeared out of nowhere, eyes wide. "Tell me this isn't a prank!"

"This isn't a prank," Anthony spoke up.

She squealed just like his mom did, and clapped as she looked back and forth between him and Willow. "I don't know what I was expecting when I came back here to introduce my friends but it wasn't this."

"Well, you should have expected it!" Tracey hopped up and down, looking at Willow with excitement. "When are you getting married?" He bopped her on the head, glaring at her even as she kept grinning while rubbing her head.

"Damnit, what is with you guys and these questions?!"

"No, please, continue," Anthony snickered. "It's quite enjoyable."

"Is that what this is?" Noct questioned. "I suppose it's entertaining."

"Silence, THOT!"

His mom giggled at him yelling at his fellow Chosen, before shaking her head. "Why don't you go up to your room and hang out with your friends? I'll make you all some food!"

"Oh, uh… well, we just came by so I could introduce my friends. We need to go to Saturn Valley…"

Seeing his mother look a bit crestfallen, Willow nudged her boyfriend's side. "We don't need to go right away, do we? I'd like to see your room!"

"While it'll probably be a pigsty, I would as well."

"Master's room where he grew up would be interesting to witness."

He sighed, though there was a small grin on his face. "All right, fine. Come on, it's this way." He led them upstairs, and towards the end of the hall. Willow thought his door looked like any other door and so thought his room would be the same, but the inside blew those expectations out of the water.

His bed, desk, and bookcase looked normal, with the desk holding a lamp and several school books, and the bookshelf having tons of comic books and action figures. The walls, however, were absolutely _covered_ in posters. Some of them were for video games. A couple were for movies. The rest were for songs, albums, and bands. All of them either Heavy Metal or Rock and Roll.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. Noct looked around and raised his eyebrows at the… _unique _designs that several posters had, while Anthony just smirked at his embarrassment.

"Well, you all know that I like rocking out on my guitar, so it's not like this is much of a shock," he mumbled, sitting down on his bed. Willow looked over several of the posters on the wall, one showing a skeleton wearing a cloak and wielding a scythe while riding atop a shaggy horse that stood on a pile of bones. Another showed a complex design and a man playing the guitar at the top, along with the words Black Ice at the bottom and the letters AC/DC in the center.

"These are so cool!" He perked up at Willow's exclamation and grinned. "Though, I can't see how you don't like horror movies when you have something like this next to your bed," she giggled while motioning to a poster for Machine Head which showed a rotting skull with only one white eyeball and broken teeth wearing a nordic helmet looking at the viewer.

"Because they don't have jump scares in them," he snarked back.

"This guitar is very well maintained," Anthony murmured, running his hand down the blue guitar's neck.

"Hell yeah it is, can't rock out without a guitar."

"Yes, yes," Anthony rolled his eyes and looked at the album holder next to the guitar's stand, flipping through several of them. "Though why do you have so many albums without anything to play them?"

"What?" he narrowed his eyes and looked towards the album holder, where his album player should have been, right next to it. Sure enough, it wasn't there. "TRACEY!" He barged out of the room while his fellow Chosen watched him go.

"This'll be interesting," the smarter of the two blonds said with a snarky tone.

"Why does Master have so many…" Noct looked at some of the darker posters. "...Odd posters?"

"Heavy metal bands just love that satanic imagery," Anthony explained with a shrug. "Don't know why."

"It's awesome though!" Willow exclaimed, waving her arms.

"You're just happy he likes something that's as spooky as those horror movies you like."

"Hey!" She pouted and looked away. Her eyes lit up when she saw some of the action figures on Sapphire's bookshelf, and she began playing with them. "Hey, these are Phoenix Ranger Featherman R action figures! I love this show!"

"Phoenix what."

"It's a Japanese series where these guys dress up as colorful birds and beat up bad guys like blammo! And pow! And bop! My favorite is Pink Argus! I wonder if Sapphire likes Red Hawk because he's the leader, or Blue Swan because blue is his favorite color?"

Suddenly, the door to Sapphire's room was kicked open and in he walked, using his telekinesis to hold an album player over his head while Tracey hopped up and down to try and grab it while King padded along behind them. "C'mon big bro, I just wanted to listen to some of your music!" Willow completely ignored them, shooting forward to hug King. Sapphire easily sidestepped her without looking.

"HE'S SO FLUFFY!"

"And I've told you before that a lot of it is too heavy for someone your age! Especially the album covers! Mom would kill me if she found these in your room!"

"Oh come on, it's not _that _bad!"

He grabbed an album and flipped it over to point at one of the song titles, several of which had to do with the slaying of gods and demons. "Not _that _bad?"

Tracey rolled her eyes, "we both know it's just music, I'm not suddenly going to worship Satan after listening to a few songs."

"Yeah, but if she heard this coming from your room?" He shivered. "She would flay me alive."

"You're exaggerating," Anthony spoke up, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, maybe, but a lot of these songs can be way too hardcore!" He pressed play on the music player.

—_leep soundly in your bed tonight,_

_Because judgment comes for you AT FIRST LIGHT!_

_I'M THE HAND OF GOD!_

_THE DARK MESSIAH!_

_THE VENGEFUL OOOOONE!_

_Look inside and see what you're becoming!_

_In the blackest moment, of a dying world, _

_What have you become?_

_Look inside and see what you're becoming!_

_When you die!_

_You'll know why!_

_For you cannot be saved!_

_With all the world enslaved!_

_When you die!_

_You'll know why!_

_You'll die!_

_You'll know why!_

_For you cannot be saved!_

_This world is too depraved!_

_When you die!_

_You'll know why!_

_I'M THE HAND OF GOD!_

_THE DARK MES—!_

He cut off the music and lifted an eyebrow. "See?"

"Holy crap, that was metal as heck!" Willow whooped, now holding King as he huffed and moved around so he was comfier.

"Yes, that's why it's called _Heavy Metal,"_ Anthony sighed, taking his fingers out of his ears. "why must those singers scream every line? You'll go deaf from listening to that all day."

"Sorry, I can't hear you over how badass Disturbed are. Anyway, Trace, I'll get you some tamer albums and then when you're older you can have the more hardcore ones."

"Fiiiine." Tracey walked out of his room and he rolled his eyes

Suddenly, a guitar was shoved into his hands. He looked to see Willow grinning widely at him. "Play us a song!"

"Ah, I don't think—"

"Yes, play is something," Noct nodded. "Your 'Heavy Metal' is quite intriguing."

"Please, anything but that," Anthony sighed. "The volume is hurting my everything."

"Coward," Sapphire smirked. "Well, I do play other things besides Rock and Metal."

"What, are you going to try and seduce Willow with a romantic song?" Anthony snorted and lifted an eyebrow.

"You ever saw a concert where the guitarist destroys his guitar by bashing the stage? I could replicate that but with your face!"

"Try me and I'll atomize you."

* * *

After Sapphire demonstrated how to perform a chokeslam with his unwilling participant Anthony, and then playing the guitar for everyone, they are the dinner that his mother prepared before Teleporting to Saturn Valley.

Doctor Andonuts and… apparently, Apple Kid was working on some sort of machine that looked vaguely like a Mr. Saturn, but much larger, perhaps the size of a car. The doctor noticed them and brightened up, standing up straight and wiping some grease off of his face.

"Sapphire, Willow, My so— Anthony! And, who are you?"

"Noct, Prince of Dalaam."

"Very good, very good!"

Sapphire snuck a glance at Anthony, who had a slightly conflicted look on his face. If he were to guess, it probably had to do with the Doctor almost calling him his son, before correcting himself like Anthony had asked him to do. "You should talk with him," he murmured.

"Later," Anthony sighed.

"—incredible folk! And Apple Kid! He is a most exceptional young man! Very different from other kids his age! Of course, he could still learn a couple of things from me or you, Anthony!" He zoned back in to hear the Doctor speaking, and nodded along to pretend he'd heard what he'd said.

"What exactly is it you're working on?"

"Ah, the Phase Distorter Mark Two!" The scientist frowned suddenly, adjusting his glasses. "Some large boy managed to steal the original, along with Mr. Saturn. I'm attempting to create a new one, but… well, it could take a while."

"How long?"

"Hmm… a few days?"

"Alright… Noct, Willow, let's keep training our PSI. Anthony, do you mind helping the Doctor to speed up the process?"

Anthony looked at him, before chuckling. "Well, if you're going to force my hand…" the Doctor beamed at his son ecstatically, before nodding in thanks at Sapphire.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road!"

The next few days resembled that of their time in Dalaam, with the three PSI-Sensitive Chosen training and upgrading their abilities, while Anthony assisted in the construction of the Phase Distorter. Noct focused on his healing and support abilities, while Willow focused on her Destructive ones, plus PSI Nature. Sapphire, on the other hand, focused on training Despair, since that was the only ability he hadn't mastered.

Unlike when Nightmare used it, Despair was no longer a counterpart to Hope, being a wave-like explosive ability that was comprised of Negativity. Now, it was a focused attack, though it still did use Negative emotions. He supposed that if he ever needed to take down an enemy with something equally as powerful as Hope but focusedy, he could instead use Despair.

Also at that time, Noct began training both Sapphire and Willow to use Starstorm, while Willow trained Sapphire to be able to use Fire more effectively, and managed to teach him PSI Magnet and PSI Thunder. It was a rough few days, but in between training sessions, Sapphire and Willow managed to relax by going on one or two dates, mostly just picnics in the valleys around Saturn Valley and cloud watching, but they both found them enjoyable.

However, at night, Sapphire couldn't sleep. Flashes of visions assaulted his mind while dreamt, death, blood, and decay all in the streets while hellfire rained from above, before an endless black abyss swallowed him. He'd shoot up in his bed, sweating and breathing heavily, before growling and going outside to train himself more. While it was nice to feel frustrated again, especially when it wasn't amplified by Nightmare or Deep Darkness, he had no idea where these visions were coming from.

With how his precognition or premonition or _whatever the hell it was called_ worked, he should have been getting doomsday visions for a while. Why had they so suddenly shown up? Was it because he'd fully connected to the earth? Conquered Magicant? He had been tempted to re-enter and try to find Wisdom to ask him but refrained in case someone noticed him absent and got worried. Instead, he went back to bed and summoned the Sound Stone from the depths of his soul to sing him to sleep.

It was on the fourth day when he found out what his visions meant. It started normally. Woken up by a hug from Willow, breakfast, training, and then Anthony had come to get them. Apparently, there had been a problem with the Phase Distorter.

"What's wrong?"

Andonuts sighed and scratched his head, "we're missing a vital piece. But the only way to make said piece is with materials not of our world, Zexonyte. It came from a meteorite that fell when I was much younger, but without that meteor…"

"There's a meteor in Onett!" Willow cheerfully answered, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking on her feet back and forth.

"Wonderful! With even just a small piece I can synthesize the material and complete the Phase Distorter!"

"Alright, sounds good. Maybe I can get some cookies from Tracey while I'm there…" he grinned and shook his head, before motioning for the others to follow him. "Come on guys, next stop, Onett!" The first sign of trouble: Teleport wasn't working. After the energy fizzled out for the fourth time in a row, Sapphire looked at his hands in confusion. "What the heck is going on? I'm doing it correctly!"

"If something is blocking the area you are thinking of, then Teleport will not function, like an automatic safety function so you don't Teleport inside something and destroy your body."

"Huh… what the heck could be outside my house that's preventing me from teleporting?" He shook his head. "Alright, I guess it'll be the entrance to downtown Onett then." He began running and grinned when nothing stopped him from Teleporting.

His grin fell when he saw the second sign of trouble. The entirety of Onett was either on fire or in ruins. Dark clouds covered the sky, lighting up every once in a while with lightning before thunder clapped. Sapphire looked on in shock, not sure what exactly he should be feeling. "What…"

"Oh my god…" Willow held her hands to her mouth, before wincing as somebody screamed in the distance, before it was suddenly cut off. Like they had been silenced.

Anthony said nothing, his eyes wide, so Noct took the initiative and stepped forward. "Anthony, is there any way that you can search for people still alive?"

"Ah, I-I… yes?" The blond rooted around in his bag before pulling out the two helmets he'd gotten from the Starman and Psychic Psycho. "I was working on some way of hacking into their files to see just what they know about us or what they might have been planning, but… yeah, if I tweak a few things then I should be able to use this as a sort of radar."

There was a crashing noise nearby, and out of a building came a large robotic octopus. It looked similar to the ones in Scaraba, but it had a green tint and was _much _larger. About one and a half stories when fully stretched out on all of its legs, and on the ends of said legs were incredibly sharp talons. Several of which were stained red. Sapphire felt vomit rise. How many had been killed? Were any of his friends dead? Were—

Were his family okay?

"Get down," Noct hissed, attempting to grab his shoulder, before he let out a grunt as his hand was burnt. The veins under Sapphire's skin began glowing red, black and gold, and his eyes turned yellow. Oh, Nightmare has been defeated yes, so this wasn't him taking control. This was purely Sapphire. And it was a pure rage.

The machine didn't even take another step before it shuddered and slammed into the ground, surrounded by a red aura. Sapphire cracked his neck and twirled Casey, before slamming the living weapon down on the Octobot's metallic head. The metal easily caved under his strength, so he kept bashing, again and again. When the robot gave one last pitiful groan, he laid his free hand on its 'forehead' and channeled energy into it. "Despair Ω." Despair shot out like a beam, carving a hole straight through the machine from front to back.

Sparks flew from it as it shuddered, and Sapphire used Telekinesis on the concrete around him to make a shield as it exploded. The flames reached high into the sky, and Sapphire turned away from them as the heat washed up against him, only for Noct to punch him in the face. "And now all of the creatures know we are here!"

He rubbed some blood off of his split lip and glared back at the prince. "Let them come. I'm carving a path straight up to northern Onett to save Tracey and mom, and if they think they can stop me they've got one hell of a wake-up call coming."

"You idiot!" Noct grabbed him by the shirt and practically _snarled. _"The Chosen's duty is to the world! Tell me, what is more important, two people or however many people are still alive in Onett?!"

Sapphire's eyes lit up gold again and he grabbed Noct's arms, throwing them aside before swinging at his face. Noct easily pushed aside his fist and slammed his own into Sapphire's face, shattering his nose and sending blood flying. Still, Sapphire kept coming, grabbing Casey and swinging at Noct's stomach. As he wasn't being blinded by rage and was still the better fighter, Noct deflected the attack and swung his blade, letting Faithkeeper rest against Sapphire's throat.

"_My King, I believe it wise to knock thine Leader out. He is no longer of sound mind."_

"_No," _he thought back to his blade, "_I can still reason with him." _

"They're my family!" Sapphire looked down at the blade with his eyes, snarling. "I _have _to save them!"

"And what of the other families within Onett? What will happen to them because you wanted to satiate your whims?" Sapphire didn't move, trying to retort but coming up with nothing. "If we hurry, we may be able to save the people of Onett and your family… but even if we couldn't… ask yourself, could you live with yourself if dozens die because of your selfishness?"

"Yes." His voice cracked. He was lying.

"Sapphy." His eyes twitched towards Willow, who stepped forward and smiled sympathetically. "I love you. Whatever you choose, I support that decision."

"Then—!"

"But only if it's what you truly believe to be right."

He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed, clenching his fists. "_Wielder?"_ And of course, now is when Casey finally decides to speak with him. Why did it have to be now? "_Soul-Forged weapons specifically forged for people gain attributes and emotions of their wielder through trying times. Now is one of those times. The frustration and confusion—"_

"_Is there a point to this?" _He thought back, hollowly.

"_This is a decision that will affect you forever. And the more time spent thinking, the more people die. You are my Wielder. I was birthed from a boy with a strong heart and noble intentions. Will that boy cease to be or continue on, head held high?"_

"…Anthony, have you finished your device?"

"Y-yeah." The blond had looked up from time to time, but focused mainly on the machine. "It looks like… a few people are hiding out in buildings, but the largest concentrations are to the west and northwest."

"The hospital and school are in that direction…" Sapphire closed his eyes and breathed in. "…Anthony, you're with me. We're going towards the school. Noct, Willow, the hospital. Take out as many monsters as you can on the way. The less that are destroying buildings to get to the people inside, the better."

Noct lowered Faithkeeper and reached out to grip Sapphire's shoulder. "This is the right decision, Sapphire." He just looked back at the prince blankly before shrugging off the hand and jogging away, Anthony right behind him. Noct watched them go, while Willow looked nervous. "They'll be fine."

"I know, it's just…" He cut her off with a nod. He understood.

"They'll be fine," he said again for emphasis. She just nodded, before they made their way west.

* * *

The giant robot screeched as its talons dug into the side of the school, and Tracey couldn't help the sob that escaped her as she huddled in the back of the room, as far from the windows as she could get. Several other boys and girls were hiding with her, all just as frightened as she was.

She wasn't even sure when it happened, one moment she'd been bored out of her mind learning math equations, and the next the school's alarm went off and the teachers told them to hide. Weird sounds came from the hallways and she thought she'd seen blood splatter against the window on the door, so she closed her eyes and hugged her knees trying to convince herself it was all just a bad dream.

Then, the giant octopus attacked. It started with a rumbling in the earth, then suddenly red light was shining through the windows and when she looked up, a large robot was staring straight at her. That was when it began clawing at the bricks, attempting to tear the school off of its foundations, or maybe it was just wholly fixated on her. "Big Brother," she cried, "please help me!"

There was a crash as the windows were torn out, and suddenly a tentacle shot straight into the classroom. She watched with wide eyes as a girl she liked to eat lunch with was skewered, blood dripping from her dress, before being dragged out of the classroom and whipped through the air. She felt something rise in her throat, before she suddenly vomited. She looked down to see her hands in the puddle of bile, which was starting to mix with the blood.

The robot gave another shriek, before its tentacle shot straight at her. Her eyes widened. This was it. She was going to die. She was suddenly tackled and looked to the side to see Picky staring at her in shock. "I-I saved you! I'm a hero!" He got to live his dream for all of five seconds before the tentacle extracted itself from where it got stuck in the wall and whipped Picky in the back.

She heard the sound of broken bones, something she could recognize by ear from the times Sapphire had accidentally broken a bone playing sports. Picky flew across the room and slammed into the wall with a sickening _crunch, _before she felt something sink into her leg.

Tracey looked down to see the sharp talons cutting through her dress and piercing her calf, before she was pulled out of the building with a scream. The whiplash hurt her neck and spine, and she felt tears running down her face as she grasped at the tentacle. The machine barely acknowledged her, and casually lifted another tentacle to spear her with.

There was a whoosh of wind and she jerked, opening her mouth to scream. But there was no need. The machine had stopped for no apparent reason, and she'd been jerked because the entire machine had shuddered.

"SAPPHIRE, NOW!" Someone screamed, but she didn't care, she only cared for the name they screamed. There was a flash of blue light above the machine, and her brother was suddenly there, bat raised high. He screamed and defying all logic, managed to _smash _the massive machine to pieces despite being several times smaller than it.

The machine began to fall, and it let go of her, before some force grabbed her before she hit the ground. She saw a blue aura around her skin and felt herself being slowly lowered to the ground where big brother's friend, Anthony she remembered his name was, waited. The boy caught her, wincing at the sight of her leg. "I can patch you up, just stay still alright?"

"Anthony, I can heal her!"

"No," the boy snapped, "there are more monsters inside, I saw it on the radar! I can take care of her, you need to save those kids and teachers!"

"Gah… Tracey, do everything he tells you to, alright?!" With that, he suddenly vanished in a flash of light before reappearing where the windows had been ripped from.

She looked down when she felt pressure on her leg and saw Anthony treating her. "Hey, is this your only injury? Did you see yourself get cut or pierced anywhere else?" She shook her head. "Alright, but I'll be checking you over just in case." She nodded. He looked worried and muttered something about 'having gone into shock' before he finished disinfecting her leg.

She kept staring at the ground as he wrapped a cloth around her leg, and started when he snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Hey, still with me?" She looked at him to see an even more worried look in his eyes.

"You… you're traveling with big brother, right?" She weakly asked.

"Yes, I don't have powers or anything like that, but I'm trying my best because your brother and my friends count on me."

"Have you…" she swallowed. "Um… have you killed things?"

"Yes…" he said slowly. "Animals, robots…"

"People…?"

"No," he shook his head, but by the look on his face, he seemed to sense exactly what she was leading up to.

"Have… you watched someone die?"

He stayed silent. "…No. I'm… I'm sorry…"

She just nodded, eyes blank. "It's okay… I was just hoping you might be able to tell me if this feeling would ever go away."

He grabbed her and hugged her, sighing. "I don't know… I… nobody should ever have to witness someone dying. Especially not someone your age."

"It's okay."

"It isn't," he whispered. Why? She wasn't upset. She just felt empty. Numb. Tears leaked from her eyes for some reason.

Inside the building, Sapphire shielded a student with his body, the laser beam that impacted his forehead not even tickling him. "Go, get to safety! I have a friend outside!" The children ran, though the teacher hesitated, not wanting to leave what he thought to be a helpless child behind. He just glared and shouted, "GO!"

"_Danger, there's a Starman in front of you!" _He turned as Casey spoke and brought up said bat, blocking the tentacle that the robot had tried to whip him with. He snarled and gripped the tentacle, pulling the Starman down so he could headbutt it and bash its faceplate in. The robot stumbled and he punched clean through its chest to unleash a beam of Despair, slicing through the line of robots behind it.

When they all fell to the ground with smoking holes he lowered his hand and closed his eyes. The school became quiet around him, the alarms growing silent, and he saw the outline of everything around him. There were only a few more classrooms full of people, on the floor above him. He opened his eyes and blew a hole in the roof with Flash, Warping through.

He didn't even run through the halls, instead using short-ranged Warps to teleport throughout the building until he came upon two Starmen and a smaller Octobot. He Warped onto the Octobot while they still didn't know he was there and plunged a hand into it, lighting it up with a Fire β from the inside.

He quickly backflipped as the Starmen attempted to attack and leaped over their blasts of Freeze, before lobbing a wave of Hope towards them. It fizzled slightly, his emotions more towards Despair, but it still managed to demolish the robots with how much power he'd put into it.

He didn't spare the time to watch them fall and instead Warped again and again, appearing inside another classroom. More kids were huddling with a teacher scrambling forward to protect them, only to stop in confusion upon seeing him. "The halls are clear, get everyone out!" He didn't wait for their response. With them leaving, no one else would be in the building. He Warped back to Anthony and Tracey, only to see Tracey shivering in Anthony's arms while he tried to calmly soothe her. "Ant?"

"Sapphire," Anthony looked up. "She's in shock. Not medical shock-shock, but… she witnessed people dying in front of her. I don't think… she won't be okay for a very long time."

He bit his lip and clenched his hands, before kneeling in front of his sister. "Hey? Trace?"

Her eyes darted to his and it hurt his very soul to see how hollow they were. "Hey, big bro…"

"Are you…" no, she obviously wasn't _fucking okay. _"Tracey…"

"Did you get contacts? Your eyes are gold now… oh, and they were silver when you came home a few days ago. But they seem to be burning… it's kind of scary." His hand flew up to his face and he realized he must have unconsciously changed his eye color in accordance with using Despair so much. And his eyes must have been silver for a long time with how much PSI he'd been using recently. He quickly powered his body down, letting them go back to their natural dark brown and smiled. "Oh, cool…"

"Trace, It's alright, I'm right here."

"Of course it's alright, big bro." She tilted her head in empty confusion.

"You won't be getting through to her," Anthony explained. "The police have been busy at the hospital, but when Noct and Willow arrived they were able to send a few cars our way. They'll be here soon, they'll take care of her."

"But-"

"Sapph, neither of us knows how to deal with something like… this. We should leave it to the professionals." Sapphire sighed and let a few sparks emit from his hands before nodding. To be honest he could understand. When he'd warped into Tracey's ruined classroom he'd healed everyone that he could, but some of them were dead before he'd even gotten there. It was bad enough seeing dead children, it was probably even worse watching them die. He looked up when he heard sirens and saw blue and red flashing lights.

"Trace… big bro's gonna go make sure more people are okay. Can you stay strong, and do everything the officers say?"

"Okay…"

"Right. I love you Trace."

A brief flash of emotion showed in her eyes. "I love you too." He turned and grabbed Anthony, Teleporting to the hospital. It was much worse than the school. Collapsed walls, flames licking several windows, and the streets shattered along with dozens of destroyed robots. Definitely Noct and Willow's work. He turned to see Willow helping get people onto an ambulance while Noct kept a lookout for any more robots.

They turned as they approached. Noct's face was hard, but he mostly seemed as serious as usual. Willow, on the other hand, was ashen, tears streaking down her face. Yet she continued on, helping everyone. He loved that about her. He stepped close and pulled her into a hug before she could say anything, running his fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead. She sobbed and buried her face into his shirt.

She was an empathetic girl. Someone else's pain was her pain. She didn't know any of these people as well as he did, Betty who was his favorite waitress at the diner was over there with a haunted look, Charles, who'd given him the Mr. Baseball Cap sticker when he first left Onett was watching as his dead mother was covered in a sheet, John, who was always the strongest of their Onett gang bawled his eyes out as he hugged his father. None of them Willow knew, yet she felt for all of them. "Sapphire," Noct spoke up.

"How many?"

"Too many," the prince growled. "By the time we got here, they'd forced their way inside. Police held them off as long as they could, only a few were still alive for me to heal. The ambulances are going to take them to the hospital in Twoson."

"DIdn't you heal them all?" Anthony questioned.

"I wanted to. But to heal everyone in the building to peak health, or even to non-life-threatening levels would take too much PSI."

"So you let them suffer just for some energy?!" Sapphire almost let go of Willow to confront Noct again, only for her to grab his clothes.

"Please don't fight," she whispered.

"I… I'm sorry, I just…" He felt his emotions waver. He'd been running on rage and adrenaline, but he was beginning to crash. If he didn't do something, the memories of all those dead bodies would quickly overwhelm him. "Whatever. We're done here, right? Can we go to Northern Onett yet?"

"My sensors aren't picking anything up." He turned to see Anthony wearing an odd hodge-podge of alien gear. "Most people that hadn't hidden in their buildings were evacuated to the hospital, and the school was, well, the school. I thi- uh oh."

"What? What's uh oh? What the hell is uh oh?!"

"I don't think those ambulances will find any help in Twoson," Anthony winced. These attacks… They're happening everywhere. Twoson, Threed, Fourside… on other continents too. Every major city or town in the world. Tokyo, Great Britain, Cairo... "

"T-Twoson?" Willow whispered.

He hugged her closer and squeezed his eyes closed. His visions. They showed the world on fire, and that was exactly what was happening. The war with Giygas had begun. But why didn't he get them sooner?! Why so suddenly?! If he'd had more forewarning…

"We're going, now." Everyone turned to him. "We kill Giygas, this invasion is over. My house is on the way, I'll check on my mom, we grab the meteorite, we get the hell out."

Everyone was silent, but they followed him anyway as he led them to towards his house. While Noct felt guilty about pushing Sapphire to take charge and force his way past his emotions, it was necessary. Of course, that broke down when they found Sapphire's house. Nothing seemed wrong at first. The dirt path was undisturbed, no lights signaling fires, but when they rounded a corner around a cliffside, they saw what had blocked Sapphire's Teleportation.

Sapphire's house was in ruins. It looked like it had been completely tipped over, and rubble covered the front yard, where Sapphire usually Teleported in. Sapphire's control over his emotions completely shattered. "MOM!" He Warped forward, not even caring that when he rematerialized it was with a piece of wood through his shoulder. His arm cried out in agony over his atoms being fused with the wood, before he Warped again. He kept going deeper and deeper into the rubble, looking for any signs of life.

The next time he rematerialized his leg was halfway inside a broken couch. He hissed and blew it apart, letting his leg reform from blue mist, and looked around. His ears perked up when he heard whimpering and his head shot to the side to see King stuck under several beams of wood. "King! Hang on!" he knelt down and easily lifted the wood, but the dog wouldn't move. "King, what's-" his eyes widened when he saw the wood sticking through the white dog's side, staining it red.

(Sorry… tried to protect her… I failed…)

"King, what are you…" His eyes trailed up, and he saw his mother's corpse. She had glossy eyes, and her hair didn't seem as golden without the light shining on it, the storm clouds covering the sky preventing any sun from leaking through. "No…"

(Monsters came… I couldn't save her…) King whimpered weakly, panting for breath. (Roof caved in… couldn't protect her from that either…)

He swallowed hard, the wood splintering in his tight grasp. "K-King… It's okay. No one blames you."

(Really…?)

"Really." King smiled weakly, licking his face, before slowly slumping down. His chest stopped moving, and Sapphire closed his eyes, before grabbing him and his mother. A few Warps later and he was back outside the rubble. Everyone spun towards him, before noticing who he held.

"Sapphire…"

"..."

"S-Sapphy…"

He set them down silently, looking at them without any clear emotion on his face. Nothing was said for a few moments. "...Go get the meteorite."

"Sap-"

"GO GET THE METEORITE!" He thundered, ground cracking under him as he accidentally increased the gravity around him. His gaze was bloodshot. At any moment now he was going to lose it.

"We're staying!" Anthony shouted back, not nearly as loud, but just as firm.

"GAH!" Sapphire punched the ground, creating a crater, and his gaze flashed with vulnerability. "Please… go… I don't want… I don't want you all to see…"

"You're my partner," Anthony shook his head. "And after everything you've been through, you deserve to scream, to rage. To grieve."

"You're my… friend. I know I said we needed to hurry, but this…" Noct struggled with his words for a moment.

"I love you," Willow shook her head. "And I'll always be there for you."

"I don't want you to think I'm like Nightmare," he whispered, thinking of the abomination his Shadow Self had become after losing control.

"You'll never be Nightmare, no matter how much you lose control."

"Not to us."

His eyes squeezed shut. He couldn't take it anymore. He screamed, slamming his fists into the ground over and over, shattering stone and accidentally sending bolts of energy flying this way and that. It was too much. He found his hometown in ruins, nearly failed to save his sister, with the only reason he even made it in time was because Anthony briefly hacked it and shut it down, he then had to make his way through the dead bodies of children inside the school he went to, saw the crying and grieving forms of his friends at the hospital, and now found his dead dog and mother inside his destroyed house.

He let off one final scream towards the heavens, a beam of Despair lighting up the sky, before falling onto his knees and kneeling. He slowly lowered himself onto his arms and clasped his hands together as he breathed into the dirt path and a single tear ran down his cheek. That was all he had in him. No more. He was just… empty. If he had just been a little bit faster… could he have saved his mother? King? Were their deaths…

Were their deaths on his hands?

He felt familiar arms wrap around him, and he turned to see Willow smile at him, even though her eyes were still red from when she had cried back at the hospital. Anthony appeared next on his other side and wrapped his arms around him, murmuring on how it would be alright, eventually. Noct just closed his eyes and stepped forward, kneeling and laying a hand on his back.

"My dad told me something once. 'Things won't always be okay," Willow whispered, "and sometimes you'll feel like giving up, but you never will. Because people believe in you. You have more family than you know. Cry though you might, when you remember who you have behind you, you will find the strength you need to fight. To go forth, and walk tall.'"

His tears finally flowed, as the clouds crashed and rain pattered against the ruins of Onett.

* * *

He was exhausted. Mentally, physically, and PSI...cally. Wait, if PSI was Psionics, wouldn't that count as mental exhaustion? Sapphire sighed and rubbed his face with one hand, while Willow held the other. He supposed Noct had a point back at the hospital about not healing everyone fully. He'd done so at the school, and when combined with his liberal use of Despairs, Hopes, and Flashes while fighting Giygas' robots? He was completely out. His fellow Chosen seemed the same, even though Noct only healed people enough so they weren't in critical condition, there were still a lot of robots around the meteorite, and Willow's powerful PSI was just naturally draining. Anthony, of course, was just tired as hell.

He teleported them all back to Saturn Valley and they were walking up towards the entrance when they noticed two odd people. Two odd, familiar people. Sapphire's eye twitched when he saw how similar the two looked to both himself and Willow for some reason. This was… Could it be something to do with Giygas? Giygas corrupted him and created Nightmare out of his Shadow, but Nightmare existed solely within me, and he could _not _see Willow having her version of Nightmare. But still, here they were. "UM EXCUSE ME," he shouted, since they were a bit far away and he was still frustrated with the invasion across the globe, "BUT WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

The two copies jolted and turned towards them with wide eyes. Everyone was silent for a moment, before the boy that looked like him, (Or did he look like the boy?) cleared his throat and spoke in a voice that wasn't distorted like Nightmare's and was similar to his own. "Moon Wolfe, Sarah… Polestar?"

Polestar? Made sense, she was Willow's doppelganger, but Wolfe? Not the weirdest name, but whatever. The girl, Sarah, raised an eyebrow at Moon. "Are you seriously not comfortable addressing not me as a Wolfe now? We're married!"

Alright, also weird. They looked to be the same age as them, but all the power to them. Moon nodded, "Right, Sarah Wolfe." he said motioning towards Sarah. "The children of Giygas." THERE are the red flags! Although, if they were the children of Giygas and were married, wouldn't that be incest?

…

Weird.

He narrowed his eyes and drew Casey, while his fellow Chosen prepared themselves. In response Moon withdrew the sword he wore on his back that he saw in Lumine Hall. He growled, feeling his anger beginning to spike again. These kids were the children of the bastard who was invading earth, and killed his mother, dog, and attempted to kill his sister?! "I should've known that this was just some more of Nightmare's bullshit when I saw you two in that reflection back Lumine Hall you stupid emo bitch boy!"

"Lumine Hall…?" Willow muttered.

Across from them, Sarah opened her mouth before Moon murmured at her, too low to hear. After a few moments where nothing happened, and he began thinking that perhaps they were telepathically communicating, Moon grinned evilly. Sapphire groaned in the back of his head, because while no one else might have been able to see it, he could see the taunting edge to it. The same edge Nightmare had so often when they first spoke to each other. "What the hell is so funny, Wolfe-San?" Noct questioned, hand on Faithkeeper's handle.

Sapphire Starr," the boy started. "That makes you Willow Throne Polestar...Anthony Andonuts…and Noct Amiyari." He blinked in shock at Moon knowing his name, but in hindsight, if he was a creation of Giygas, why wouldn't he know their names? "Don't act so surprised, I know quite a lot about you."

And all we need to know is that you and your girlfriend are Giygas' children, which means your against us...I defeated Nightmare...this bullshit isn't going to stop us." He narrowed his gaze and snapped at them. Small sparks crackling at his fingertips.

"And...he's back to swearing again," Anthony muttered. Was he? Damn, he must have been really worked up… But these guys worked with GIygas, meaning he had to stop them.

His gaze landed on the sword. Disarm your opponent before fighting them. Good thing his Telekinesis had no drain on his PSI anymore. He reached out with his mind, and saw Moon shift, feeling the pull. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Moon warned, a genuine note of… something, giving him pause. "Unlike me, you aren't exactly what Saphira would call worthy. I don't sense a dark heart within you." He was warning him? Was it a trick, or genuine? His hands clenched as rage began bubbling up again. Children of Giygas showing concern for someone? After witnessing Onett, this had to be a damn joke.

But you two are counterparts...even if you are what we would call a fallen timeline-"

Shut up Ant, we don't have time to deal with this." Willow snapped, PSI exhaustion making her angrier than usual.

"Funny how things worked out for you isn't it?" Moon asked. "But Sarah and I are far from your adversaries. Which is lucky, because we are also more powerful than you." Alright, the hell was that about? If Giygas had some clones of him and Willow that were stronger than them, wouldn't he have sent them out already?

"Moon please stop messing with them...let's just go home."

"No no. Stay, I'm very interested in where you're going with this," he said. "Do you intend to fight us?" They hadn't shown hostility yet… Speaking with another version of himself could be interesting, but if they were a threat, well…

"No, that'd be stupid, and it'd be unfair, you don't have what I have, the Dark forces of PSI are a pathway to many abilities some of which, are considered to be unnatural." Was… was that a fucking reference to something?

"And forbidden by Dalaam's standards." Noct piped up.

"Shut up, I'm just saying, I could kill you without trying." Sapphire grit his teeth, tightening his grip on Casey. That wasn't a threat, he repeated in his head, or at least not a direct one. Don't lose your cool. Keep your emotions under wraps…

"Great Emo Sapphire is an arrogant bitch." Anthony groaned.

"Is it arrogance?" Moon asked. "Or is it just my own belief...or is it the honest truth...I mean, what's stopping me from just killing you?"

Sapphire's eyes flashed. His emotions flared. "You aren't hurting my friends!" He shouted, pulling Saphira from Moon's grasp and into his hands with Telekinesis.

Moon snorted. "You fucking idiot."

The moment the blade landed in his free hand he felt a jolt, He suddenly began screaming as _something _made its way up his arm, but he couldn't see anything. He fell to the ground and dropped Casey, gripping at his arm. The hell was happening?! His eyes flashed, and he saw what looked to be blackness eerily similar to Nightmare's crawling up his arm. "_Oh hell no. Not this time." _

He heard something behind him as heat washed over his back, before there was a splash of water and a rumbling in the ground, but he focused solely on the ooze. Even as he let out screams of agony, he heard a voice in his mind, that of the sword. "_Unworthy," it hummed to him. "You wield me without a black heart, and true pain is what you've wrought."_

"_I've felt worse,"_ he hissed back in his mind, even though on the outside he was still screaming. "_You ever miss bargain day at the supermarket?! SHIT SUCKS!" _He clamped his mind down, forcing Magicant closed so nothing could penetrate deep into his mind. The darkness on his arm stalled for a moment.

He was suddenly assaulted with visions, Willow, Anthony, Noct, Tracey, dad, all of them either dead or tortured while he could do nothing about it. "_Taunt me you might, there is nothing you can do to run from your innermost fears." _He growled and clenched his hands in the grass. There was a vision missing, of course. His mother. She was gone, so it's not like the little fear test would plague him with visions of that. And it gave him the strength to clamp down again, using sheer force of will to do what he did best. _Snark. _

"_What's your worst fear, not getting a good sharpening on time? At least I give a shit about my friend's wellbeing! I don't think weapons make many friends! Sorry, Casey."_ He felt a slight grin grow, before more pain stabbed through him and he hissed through his teeth.

Footsteps reached his ears now that he wasn't screaming, even if the pain was still there. "You were a fool to think that you could just overpower Giygas's corruption just because you defeated Nightmare. Nightmare was just a weaker version of my own dark side. You have no experience with corruption. You don't even have a dark heart, I'm sure that Saphira is telling you that isn't it? Calling you unworthy? Showing you your worst fears?" Oh please… he'd already faced some of his fears. If any more of them came true… there was nowhere in space-time that Giygas could hide.

"Y-You're a dick!" Sapphire grunted. "Y-y-you're just gonna stand here and w-watch me suffer?" Depending on the answer… He glared up but focused his mind. "_Noct."_

"_I have a Starstorm ready to go. My hands are trapped, but Willow has been melting a hole through the earth holding us, and it's weak enough for me to break through if necessary. On your signal, I can blast them to Giygas and back."_

"_Anthony?"_

"_Has a Bottle Rocket ready to go. Shall we?"_

"_Wait," _he shivered as the pain wracking him increased, the sword probably not liking him cutting it off from Magicant. "_Depending on their answer, we'll know if they're friend or foe."_

With the conversation having taken only a few milliseconds due to the speed of thought, he was still waiting on Moon's response. The boy shrugged. "I didn't realize you liked it." He narrowed his gaze, preparing to tell Noct to blast them away, before Moon shrugged a second time. "I'm kidding...obviously. I don't need anyone getting mad." Moon grabbed Saphira from his hands.

"I do hope you can forgive me for this, you'll be fine, the effect should wear off soon. But, I respect your bravery. Here's some advice that you just need to know; not all heroes get a happy ending Sapph, I think you got the better timeline and story, because at least you still have happiness. But, it was wrong for you to just jump to that 'we are evil conclusion,' we have different beliefs and ideologies, but I can see our similarities. Just know that you've got a friend in me and Sarah. Good luck defeating Giygas you four. May the odds be ever in your favor." He felt the presence stop spreading as Sapphire left his hand, and through sheer willpower forced himself up onto wobbly feet, even as he clutched his arm and his body screamed bloody murder.

Not all heroes get a happy ending? Ha! He didn't know what crawled up that guy's ass and died, but he knew _nothing _about him! Sure, the same was true for him, he didn't know if the guy had some tragic bullshit batman backstory, but where did he come off talking about happy endings?! His mother was-! He growled, pushing down the thoughts.

"_Sapphire?"_

"_No. there's no need." _ He could admit, jumping to conclusions as he did was a mistake, but you don't exactly go around introducing yourself as somebody's greatest enemy's children, threaten them, and _not _expect a fight to break out! Moon seemed cynical and dark, but for someone who was Giygas' kid, he didn't seem too evil. Though, he would be negotiating for a free punch to the jaw for not exactly thinking through what his taunts would cause him to do if he ever met the guy again.

He looked behind him to see a tendril of earth break apart, and for Willow to run up with narrowed eyes. "Wait a second, where do you thin-"

He stopped her and watched as they vanished in a flash of orange light after a final remark, "It's fine. I'll be the bigger man here and say I should take most of the blame for that fight breaking out. Only most though."

"Size isn't everything, technique matters too," Anthony sagely said as he walked up.

"Uh…"

"After all, differently sized wrenches are suited for different jobs. Standard wrenches, metric wrenches…"

"Yeah, this conversation got a lot weirder than if it was about actual innuendos." he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I need a nap…"

"Ah, there you all are!" Doctor Andonuts sped over to them, grinning widely. "And you have the meteorite?"

Sapphire grabbed it out of his bag and handed it over with a nod. "Got it right here, Doctor."

"Fantastic! I'll have Apple Kid get to work!"

"Just Apple Kid?"

"Well…" The Doctor sighed. "There is a problem. Our enemies… they are attacking from the distant past."

"What?"

"They are transported through time, before being dropped off in this time period."

"That's why my visions were so wacky… I was seeing through time, and it was so mucked up that it only activated a few days ago…"

"But what's the problem? The Phase Distorter can connect two points in space _and _time, correct?"

"The problem is that Space works fine… but time? Traveling through time… The Phase Distorter destroys all living things… lifeforms, that try and travel through time."

"So we're screwed," Noct grimaced.

"No… If I were to upload your brain 'program' to a robot, I could technically send you into the past."

"God, this is like the opposite of the Terminator," he groaned.

"But, if something were to happen… I cannot guarantee that your spirits will not return from the past."

"That's something I'm willing to risk," Noct spoke immediately.

"What? No! Doctor isn't there some way to… I don't know, make a Mark Three that _doesn't _involve vaporizing our flesh?"

"I'm sorry, but… With the war happening all across the globe now… With how long it might take to iron out the problems, millions could die." The Doctor looked sick, clenching his fists. "I wish… I wish there was another way, but…"

"It's fine. I'll do it."

"Noct, you idiot!" Sapphire suddenly grabbed the older boy's collar and glared at him, "Do you know what could happen to you?!"

"I could die, my soul never to return to my body. A dark fate, but if it is for the world, I will gladly die."

"NO!" He spun, glaring at all of them. "No one else is dying! Doctor, make a new machine, I don't give a shit how long it takes!"

Noct grabbed his hand and jolted him back. "I have treated you like a child for these past few hours simply because you keep acting like one," Noct started. "You have lost loved ones. Your sister may never be the same. You are now afraid of losing us."

"I-"

"But please. You must put aside your fears. Since I could walk I was trained and taught that, if necessary, I would give my life for the world. I didn't expect to make such good friends with my fellow Chosen…" Noct grew silent before shaking his head. "Nevertheless, if I must give my life now? I shall do it knowing I saved as many as I could."

Noct stepped back and nodded to the Doctor. "Put me in this robot you speak of."

"I'm going too." Anthony stepped forward and swallowed, knees visibly shaking. "What kind of person would I be if I abandoned the world after… I thought I had been abandoned?" the Doctor looked away, and Anthony smiled slightly. "I forgave you already, Doctor. Make me a body as well."

"Both of you…" He bit back all of the curses he wanted to spit at them. He wasn't afraid of dying, that wasn't why he was scared of going. He was scared of being the only one to return, with his fellow Chosen staying behind, dead. All he'd have left would be Tracey and his father. Could he live on like that? These boys and one girl… they'd barely known each other for a few weeks, yet he felt closer to all of them than anybody else he'd ever met, barring his family.

"I want to make GIygas pay for what he'd done." His gaze shot to Willow, and he let out a breathless 'no.' "He… he's hurt so many people. No one deserves to get away with what he's done."

"C'mon Wils," he tried to laugh. It came out hollow. "Revenge ain't a good motivator for a hero."

"It's up to you now." She pulled her hand away from his and looked away. This was his decision to make. To kill Giygas Sapphire absolutely needed to be there. But they'd find a way if he wouldn't come. Just as they all chose to go on their own while knowing the risks, he needed to make his own choice.

"...I don't care about saving the world right now." He turned to them and his eyes blazed with an unknown emotion, a mix of determination and rage. "I'll protect you all. None of you will die. No matter what." Willow nodded and smiled weakly as she grasped his hand. "Alright, doc… What next?"

The Doctor smiled sadly. "You four are far braver than any adult I've met." he turned, motioning for them to follow. "Come. I'll get the surgery tools ready."

Sapphire turned back to Willow. "You don't have to do this you know," she whispered. "You do need to take care of Tracey."

"You have your parents and the preschool, Noct his kingdom, Anthony the Doctor. All of us have something we want to come back to."

He began walking after the Doctor, and she grasped his hand. This day had been the hardest in his entire life. But she was there for him. All of them were. Even when they were sedated and put into a heavy sleep, their hands never became unlinked. Even when their new bodies beeped and whirred, coming online with gunmetal gray parts, their hands were linked. They wouldn't leave each other. No matter what.

"Well…" They heard the voice of the Doctor outside the Phase Distorter, and with a whirr turned to him. "Sapphire, Willow, Noct, Anthony… my… my son…"

"Dad…"

"There is no turning back now. When you're ready… activate the Phase Distorter and follow your destiny. Only a few people know of your amazing courage, but the number of people you save through that bravery is immense. I feel very fortunate to be present at the beginning of this monumental undertaking. Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame."

Anthony reached forward and pressed a button, and the world outside twisted around them. It became inverted, colors shifting like Sapphire like he was back in Magicant, before with a final hum the Phase Distorter stopped. The hatch opened and they climbed out, letting the not-light of the void wash over them. It was a familiar place they were in, looking very much like the Cliff that Time Forgot, but the pathways hovering in the nothing were connected for them to walk on. He caught a glimpse of red and blue and thought he could see himself when he'd first seen the cliff before the vision vanished. Huh. Had he actually seen through time back then?

"We should get going." He turned as Anthony spoke and nodded. As his gaze fell upon the blond, he winced internally as some form of cognitive dissonance kicked in, and Anthony's robotic form was replaced by his human form. The same thing happened for Willow, Noct, and himself, and he looked down as he clenched his hands. It was probably some defense to keep himself from freaking out, since looking down to see a robotic husk would be terrifying. He turned, and in the distance felt something. It was like the Guardians with how its presence pulled at his mind, but much stronger.

He felt a shiver go down his **spine** CIRCUITS and nodded, **hair** ANTENNA wavering under his hat as the gravity of the place tugged at him oddly. Giygas was waiting. Would he keep any troops back to protect himself, or did he throw them all into the future to wreak as much havoc as possible? Only one way to find out. They began walking, gazes set on the distant cliffs.

It was almost over.

* * *

**If you can catch the reference to the video game series you win a prize. Internet points. **

**Anyways, it's almost over now. As much as this story has been battle focused and friendship focused, I had been planning on the death and gore that appeared in this chapter since the beginning. Sapphire, while sarcastic, is a very optimistic person, and it can take a lot to shatter his happy attitude. His will is going to be tested during the final battle, as well as all of his remaining positivity. Even without Nightmare, he can be broken down emotionally and physically. After all, it's literally the worst day of his life, and now he's being asked to see more of his friends, friends so close that he considers them family, risk their lives.**

**On a lighter note, I did want to get in at least one date before the end of the story. I didn't want more simply because the friendship in this story is spread out equally, with Sapphire and Willow loving Anthony and Noct just as much as they love each other, except in a platonic fashion. Plus, this isn't really a romance focused story. Though, the date was fun to write. **

**Playing around with **Emboldened text **and ****underlines** **to show the cognitive dissonance between his mind and the robotic body will be fun, but I probably won't do it much in the final battle so I don't distract from it, except for maybe some crucial moments. It should be interesting. The next chapter is, of course, the finale, the beginning and most of it being just the battle. the latter part is what happens after. I hope you'll enjoy the battle, especially the final part of the battle. I may even do an update in the middle of the week, since this feels a bit like a cliff hanger and I don't like making people wait on cliffhangers. After that is simply the epilogue. Almost there.**

**I****n any case, Review with everything you liked about the chapter or just a 'nice,' both are great to read.**

**See y'all next time.**


	33. Chapter 33: We Are Bound By Our Hearts

Chapter Thirty-Three: We Are Bound By Our Hearts

Stars rained from the sky, exploding as they impacted with the ground. Noct floated in the air, bursts of light coming from him as he rained destruction down with the final level of Starstorm he'd learned while training. "Starstorm Ω!"

The various machines that attempted to escape were devastated by a wave of Hope, and several Bottle Rockets and Thunders. The Chosen were showing no mercy, going all out with their abilities, wanting to reach Giygas as soon as possible. The quicker they defeated the monster, the sooner the invasion would be over.

A black and slightly transparent Starman attempted to throw a Freeze Ω at them, but Willow stepped forward and cast a PSI Shield, reflecting the attack back. It was turned into a frozen popsicle and he wound up before _smashing _it to pieces with Casey.

"_Danger, Kraken slithering up behind." _

He turned and fired a Blast of Despair, tearing open the Kraken's head and sending brains, blood, and tech flying.

"_Danger, Starmen behind!" _He turned and slammed the ground, creating a shield of rubble with Telekinesis to block several waves of fire, before launching the rubble forward with enough force that it punched through the metal armor of the Starmen like paper. A new Starman suddenly appeared, looking similar to the Deluxe but with its armor a slightly darker shade. It commanded a storm of Icicles to fly towards his **flesh** ARMOR, and he quickly flipped out of the way.

He cracked his **knuckles** CLAWS and launched a blast of Despair at the Starman, only for it to bounce off of a PSI Shield right back at him. He grunted as he was thrown back with a smoking hole in his **chest** CHASSIS and used Lifeup to mend it. Somehow, the PSI ability worked on the metal and fixed it right up. He narrowed his eyes before an idea came to him. Several times he'd increased the gravity around him, so why not do it consciously? A moment later and the ground cratered underneath the Starman, and its armor groaned before it was forced into the ground. He grinned-didn't grin due to his **flesh face** METAL FACEPLATE and charged forward, _smashing_ Casey into the Starman and completely detaching its head from its body with a spurt of oil and sparks.

Another Bionic Kraken suddenly coiled around the pathway they walked along, sparks flying from its mouth as it hissed at them. It had apparently forgotten Noct was still floating in the air because it didn't notice him until he landed on its back and stabbed through its neck. It flailed wildly, Before Noct slid down around its head and cut off its head.

"Come on," He **growled** BEEPED, "We're almost to Giygas." he felt it in his **bones** CORE SYSTEMS. The closer they got to Giygas, the stronger the oppressive feeling in the back of his mind grew. None of the others noticed, so maybe it was simply because of the piece of Giygas that he'd battled in Magicant. He was more attuned to the monster.

They eventually reached a floating orb that they'd seen a few times by that point, and when they touched it they were transported to a new place. They stood before a massive cliff wall, with a triangular opening that was seemingly absorbing the light of the void. Or maybe it was leaking darkness. The malicious aura that emanated from within was felt by even Anthony, and they all steeled themselves before walking inside. Their **eyes** OPTICAL SENSORS took a moment to adjust to the change in lighting, but what they saw when they finally adjusted might have caused them to throw up, had they not witnessed the horrors of Onett prior.

The floor was made of blood-red piping that pulsated, heaved and throbbed, almost like veins, or perhaps intestines and they could all hear what seemed like heavy, labored breathing. It made it hard to keep their footing, and keeping their footing was important since beneath the piping was a void of darkness, contrasting the void of white outside. At one point Willow almost fell, so he gripped her in his telekinesis and pulled her back up onto the piping before grabbing her **hand** CLAW in his own and weakly smiled-not smiled at her. She smiled-not smiled back, and they continued walking.

The piping seemed to go on for miles, but eventually, they reached an endpoint. The piping fed into a machine the size of a house, which, with the piping feeding into various points and with its blood red color, almost seemed organic. Living. In the center of the machine was a massive sphere, maybe the size of a van, with red-vein like lines zigzagging into the center. As if it sensed their presence, the machine shuddered, and the hissing of steam rang out around them, before the orb shivered.

Like skin being peeled back, the center of the orb sunk into itself, before a copy of his head was staring back at him, except it was fully colored red. It stared in silence, before a shimmering effect appeared high above it, and down descended a spider-like vehicle, with a glass cockpit that was opaque. The glass slowly turned transparent however, revealing the smirking form of Pokey, wearing a business suit and lounging in his seat.

"Pokey."

"Sapphire, old chum! Surprised? That's right, it's me, Pokey!" The mech itself was red, but the boy inside no longer looked human. His skin was a sickly pale blue, near gray color, while his hair was closer to purple. His grin was inhumanely wide, stretching across his face and showing off shiny, sharp teeth, while his eyes were hidden behind wild bangs. "Heh, I only assist the strong and able… and that's Pokey!"

His fellow Chosen looked to him, so he stepped forward, conscious of Giygas' intense gaze. "Pokey, give it up. There's still a chance of redemption for you."

Pokey burst out into laughter, his grin growing wider and pulling at his face. "Man, you sure are pathetic! If you wanted to save me, maybe you wouldn't have spent so much time dawdling around like _idiots! _Anyways, I'm sure you already know of the Apple of Enlightenments prediction… But I won't be letting that come true! You guys are gonna get your butts handed to you by Giygas! Giygas will be stronger, a more powerful entity than any other!"

"Yeah? How'd you figure?"

"Eh? 'Cause of me, duh! I was led by Giygas, and now I'm here! That stupid apple couldn't have predicted _this_!" The mech walked forward, claw tips piercing the ground with heavy thuds, but he stood his ground, staring up at Pokey. "Master Giygas… No… _Giygas _is no longer just the wielder of evil! He has become the embodiment of evil itself! He can't even fully control all of his power! He's a god of destruction and malice… He _is _the evil power!"

With that, Pokey's mech swung its leg at him and he grunted as he held Casey up to defend himself. The force of the attack threw him back, and he rolled before getting to his feet. Pokey jumped back and Giygas powered up, familiar light flowing through the machine that seemed to be his body. Willow, Anthony, and Noct stepped forward to stand beside him, all of them gripping their weapons. "This is it… let's give it OUR ALL!"

Giygas was silent but still blasted out a familiar attack. A roiling wave of Despair slammed into them, and they all grunted as they were pushed back. "Hope!" The attacks clashed, giving the other Chosen enough breathing room to fight back.

"Freeze Ω!"

"Starstorm Ω!" Both devastatingly powerful attacks rocketed forward, with Starstorm crashing down on both Giygas and Pokey, while Freeze was aimed solely at Giygas. While Pokey's mech shuddered from the powerful attack, the opposite happened with Giygas. The attacks rebounded off of him, and flew straight towards them twice as strong as when they'd been launched.

"Shield me!" Sapphire shot forward and the rest of the Chosen got behind him, while Willow threw the strongest PSI Shield she could muster over him, one that reflected attacks. It didn't work. The attacks shattered the shield and battered his **body** CHASSIS causing him to cry out in pain. His vision flickered, watching as what he thought of his fleshy body in clothes turned back to the metal robot he was stuck inside and he saw the large hole exposing the wires that were now basically his heart and lungs. He'd asked the Doctor if they really needed pain receptors, but the Doctor explained that if they didn't know they were hurt, they wouldn't know to fix the problem. He swiftly used Lifeup and sighed as the hole fixed itself, and his vision flickered back to fooling himself into thinking he still had his real body.

"Ha! You think your paltry little shields can stand up to Giygas'?!" Pokey screeched with laughter, and Sapphire took a step back to think, countering another Despair with Hope.

"Alright, we can't attack Giygas directly. Willow, give us PSI Shields that just lessen the damage we take, not deflect them." She did so and he did the same with a regular shield. "Now, focus on Pokey! If we beat him, maybe we can find a way to destroy the machine!"

Pokey just howled with laughter as he heard their plan. The mech he commanded charged forward and attempted to tear into him, but he ducked underneath and planted both hands on its underside. "Hope Ω!" The mech was filled with energy and exploded, flying high into the air which quickly gave him an idea. "Launch him higher!"

Anthony fired a Bottle Rocket, Willow unleashed a jet of flame, and Noct focused a Starstorm into a singular beam instead of multiple 'stars.' Pokey was launched so high that, for a few blissful moments, they couldn't hear his screeching. Sapphire then grinned-not grinned. "_Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine?" _He grabbed the mech in his Telekinesis and increased the gravity a hundredfold, sending the machine soaring down like a comet.

It smashed into the top of Giygas' machine body, though the face that copied his own showed no signs of being hurt at all. On the other hand, the reflector shield on Giygas took all of Pokey's momentum and threw it right back into the mech. It's metal creaked and bent as it fell back to ground level, and Pokey was visibly enraged. "You pieces of shit! You fucking wastes of space!" He began spitting out curses as his machine got back up before he began cackling with laughter. "Ah man, you guys are boned! Giygas and I are going to walk all over you!"

"He's gone insane," he heard Anthony mutter.

Another Despair rang out, not even damaging Pokey's mech but causing Sapphire to grit his teeth-not teeth as he launched a Hope to counter it. "Damnit, how much damage can that mech take?"

Another blast from Anthony's cannon caused it to stumble back and its legs to twitch. Spotting that, Sapphire jumped forward and yelled, slamming his bat down to _smash _one of the legs to pieces. Pokey screeched and tore at him with another leg, sending flesh METAL flying. He grunted and gripped the leg, holding it as it stuck in his stomach. "BLAST IT!" Willow launched a Fireball and melted through the leg. The Heavily Armored Pokey stumbled back, landing on its remaining two legs.

Pokey scrambled around inside the pod, and another two legs shot of the front of the mech. They swiped at Sapphire, who jumped back and repaired the hole in his chest. Several more waves of Despair washed over them and Sapphire screeched as he countered with waves of Hope, but each was weaker than the last. Giygas' machine body seemed to be invulnerable to attack, and his hope of winning dwindled with Pokey's machine just growing more legs. How much PSI would they waste taking down his mech, and how much would they need to kill Giygas?

Noct jumped forward and slammed Faithkeeper into the ground, causing a pillar of flame to emerge and roast Pokey from beneath. The mech stumbled back, and steam filled the inside of the cockpit. While Pokey was blinded, Willow froze the legs of the Mech to the ground and Anthony launched a rocket to destroy the legs all at once. The cockpit fell to the ground and Pokey accidentally slammed his face into the glass.

Sapphire jumped forward and gripped the cockpit. "Pokey, you don't have to do this! You don't have to destroy the world just for some goddamn attention!"

"You don't know anything! I'll be the most popular person in the world! I'll be loved!"

"Oh yeah, you'll have tons of fans! Too bad that won't happen because LITERALLY EVERYONE WILL BE DEAD! HALF OF ONETT IS DESTROYED AND DOZENS ARE DEAD!"

"They just wouldn't have appreciated my brilliance!"

"PICKY IS DEAD!" Pokey slowed down at that. "I SAW HIS BODY!"

"That… Giygas said…"

For the first time, the embodiment of evil spoke up. It was impossibly loud, yet he didn't speak at all, only communicating in their head. **DO NOT LISTEN POKEY YOU WILL EARN YOUR 'ETERNAL GLORY' BY REMAINING BY MY SIDE**

"Pokey, was your 'Glory' worth your brother's life?! Your parents were assholes, but I know you had some compassion for your brother! Giygas' troops killed him!"

**BETRAY ME AND YOU WILL PERISH LIKE ALL THE REST**

"You…" Pokey completely stopped, staring down at the controls for his mech. Suddenly, he started giggling, before bursting out into insane laughter. "Hahahahahaha! Wow, no matter what I do I can never win, can I?!"

"Please, you _can _win! Help us defeat Giygas!"

**SLAY THEM I ORDER IT**

"You order it? Man, that's hilarious!" Pokey leered at Giygas, giggles slipping from him every few seconds. "You think you're better than me too, don't you, just like precious little Sapphire!"

"Pokey, I don't think I'm better than—"

**BE WARY OF YOUR NEXT WORDS CH—**

"Shut up! Shut up shut up SHUT UP SHUT UP! I'LL PROVE I'M GREATER THAN YOU! ALL OF YOU!" With that, he slammed a button on his mech, and Giygas' machine suddenly stopped. All sounds from it fell silent, the whirrs slowed, and even the pumping pipes ceased. "Hehe… Giygas brought me here to make him that machine… his power is so great that he can't control it, it literally destroys his own mind in the process of him wielding it! So I'll just use him against you!"

**NO**

The sphere on Giygas' machine began cracking, and a black and red mist was visible within. Now that he thought about it… that sphere looked eerily similar to an eyeball. Pokey continued ranting, the legs of his mech withdrawing as it floated back into the air away from them. "Ehehe… You guys are all claiming to be heroes?! Giygas' true power is far to great for ANY of you to handle… I'm sure you're all curious about what exactly his true form looks like, aren't you?!"

**STOP THIS AT ONCE**

Several pipes connecting to the machine suddenly burst, and steam suddenly exploded out of several holes. The face on the end of the sphere melted away, and more cracks began appearing. "Well, if you were to ever see it, you'd be so petrified by fear, you wouldn't even be able to run away in fear! But, ehehe, it's too late! I've already shut down the Devil's Machine!"

**GRA**_**GGGHHHHHHHH**_

"Everyone, get ready…" All four Chosen prepared themselves before the sphere finally shattered and the machine exploded. They all cried out as a wave of darkness consumed them, blinding them as they were slowly pushed back. Sapphire screamed as he lost his footing and was thrown back, but when he should have fallen into the abyss, he landed on nothing. They all stood on a void of black, with nothing visible around them.

"What…?" His voice felt too loud in the darkness, and even though he had whispered it seemed more like a scream.

**H...U...R...T...S**

His heart lurched. He'd heard that pained not-voice before. All his life it plagued his dreams. A red mist began swirling around them, and a not-face appeared in the darkness. It was massive, and he couldn't tell whether it was simply close to them and gigantic, or an impossible distance away and unfathomably immense. The mist face was contorting and twisting and stretching, pain clearly visible. He felt a chill in his very soul as a crushing feeling came over him. It wasn't like when he increased gravity, no, Giygas' true form… its very presence brought an immeasurable weight to it and struck fear into the deepest reaches of his heart.

Everyone felt it, Willow took several steps back and grasped his hand for support, while Anthony cowered back, arms visibly shaking. Even Noct, who never felt fear, buckled and fell to one knee, taking heavy breaths. Pokey, high above them in his mech, laughed, but it was tinged with fear and horror. "S-So, isn't this terrifying? I'm terrified too, ehehe… Giygas cannot think rationally anymore, he isn't even aware of what he's doing now! His own mind was destroyed by his incredible power…"

**H...E...L...P...M...E**

"WHAT AN ALMIGHTY IDIOT! Yep, that's what he is! And you… you will be… just another meal to him!" Giygas' face twisted, before the void rumbled and they nearly fell over.

_Danger…_

Casey tried to warn him of the incoming attack, but neither of them could comprehend it at all. All four Chosen screamed as their bodies were wracked by some kind of PSI ability, and were thrown back. When they tried to get up another unfathomable attack struck them and Sapphire felt a chunk get blown out of his side, while Anthony's arm was blown off. "L-Lifeup… Ω…" The lost limbs and body parts were restored before another attack struck them.

Even though he still couldn't understand what was happening, he knew it involved some form of electricity as his Franklin Badge glowed and tried to absorb the power. It was for naught, however, as the Franklin Badge couldn't handle the voltage and detonated, throwing him back further. He groaned as electricity coursed through his body and the Franklin Badge fell to the ground, destroyed and in pieces.. In fact, all four Chosen groaned, not even attempting to get back up.

"What… what is that thing?" Anthony whispered in absolute fear, terror gripping at his heart.

"It's…" Willow trembled on the floor, slowly crawling backward.

"Fight… we have to… we have… to…" Noct couldn't do anything but grasp Faithkeeper, her implanted blade in the ground the only thing keeping him on his knees.

**S...A...P...P...H...I...R...E**

He struggled to his feet and noticed he was the only one of them who could actually stand, even if it was on shaky, wobbling legs. He tried to swallow an excess of saliva, forgetting his robot body for a moment, as the world around them tried to crush them in despair. Not the PSI Despair, but pure, undiluted agony of the mind.

It was devastating. He wanted to cry. Scream. He held up shaky arms and tried to summon his PSI. It came easily. He attempted to turn it into Hope. It fizzled out. Heh. Figures. Who in their right mind could summon up an iota of hope like this?

Pokey was still cackling above them, the glass of his cockpit sliding back so he could stick his head out and leer down at them, even as fear-induced sweat dripped down his face and matter his clothes to his body. "Hehe, you guys must be at the end of your rope. In this bizarre dimension, you four are the only force fighting for justice. And here you stand, waiting to be burned up alongside the rest of the garbage in this universe… Hah! It's so sad I might shed a tear! You know, my heart is beating incredibly fast… I must be experiencing absolute terror! Do you want to scream for help here in the dark?! HAHAHA! WHY NOT CALL FOR YOUR MOMMY, SAPPHIRE?! SAY 'MOMMY, DADDY, I'M SO FRIGHTENED! I THINK I'M GONNA WET MY PANTS!'"

Rage burned inside him, and he managed to glare up hatefully at Pokey. "My mom is dead, Pokey… Giygas' troops killed her."

"Oh, really? Well, Giygas is gonna destroy everything anyway, so maybe you should be thankful that she got to die already! She'll be waiting for you wherever you go when you die!" A vicious snarl escaped him, but before he could attempt to attack Pokey, another attack crashed into him. Their bodies were torn up again, and he gasped as he threw another Lifeup out, repairing them all. He was thankful for the pain receptors built into the robot bodies so that he could know when he needed to repair something vital. He wasn't thankful for how much they made his body hurt.

Still, he struggled to his feet. It hurt. It hurt so much. He wanted… he wanted to just give up and lie there, curl up like a fetus and cry and pray that the monster wouldn't kill him. He'd never felt more fear in his life. Pokey was right. Giygas was the very embodiment, the God of Fear.

But he didn't. His friends were counting on him. They would stand with him. He looked back, and his eyes widened when he saw them all, even Noct, simply lying there. "Guys…?"

"I can't…" If she could have, it looked like Willow would have started to weep. She clutched her pan close to her, making horrible sobbing noises, though no tears came.

An attack crashed into them, and he stumbled while everyone else continued laying there. He fished for more PSI and healed everyone.

"Help me… Help me…" Anthony whimpered and tried to hide as much as possible, clawing at the ground.

Another attack and he fell to his knees. They weren't… fighting? They'd given up? He healed everyone again, but he was beginning to run out of energy.

"I'm… a failure," Noct gasped, clutching at his head as Faithkeeper fell lifelessly to his side.

A final attack and he was thrown onto his back. He struggled to get up, barely healing everyone as he did so. Why couldn't he fight? Hope that would previously dance through his veins, sing into his ears as he unleashed it, wavered and hid, whimpering and refusing to come out. His very core was terrified.

But there was something inside him that pushed him to get back up. Even if his friends couldn't go on, he had to protect them. He closed his eyes and tried to reach out, grasping for a connection to any of the Sanctuaries, but the odd dimension that Giygas' power created cut off any strands that connected him to the earth. He panted as phantom sweat dripped down his face, and he tried to push harder, straining his telepathy to reach out of the dark dimension.

More pain. Another attack landed, and he felt Giygas' corruption and darkness destroy his Hopes. He felt his strength wane as his weak Hope began dying out. He couldn't protect them… He fell back, and his head spotted Willow, whose eyes shot to his. He saw them widen as his closed, and he smiled weakly, mouthing 'I'm sorry…' With that, he let himself drift into the void of death.

* * *

"N...No…" Willow whispered and tried to crawl towards Sapphire's body, but couldn't summon up the energy to move, the terror that struck her core preventing her from even twitching a muscle towards him. "Sa..pphire…" The lights in his eyes flickered out, and she whimpered, closing her own eyes. _I know that you don't always have the best results, but please… just this once… My Gift… _"Prayer…" Weak light shone from her body, illuminating barely anything.

"Trying your telepathy or whatever?" Pokey, high above laughed hoarsely. "Just try and call for help, you pathetically weak so-called heroes of justice!" She ignored him, reaching out with her mind again.

"Prayer…" The light was just as weak, suffocated by the darkness.

"Don't worry, your pitiful suffering will be over soon!"

**F...R...I...E...N...D...S**

"Prayer…" The light seemingly drifted towards Sapphire's corpse and flowed into him. If they had any chance of succeeding, then Sapphire needed to stand up again. From what everyone had told them, he was the key. But how? If he lost hope, what could he do? He needed… to be reminded of the bonds he'd forged.

It hurt. It was the worst feeling in the world. But she managed to lift her arm. She twitched forward, grasping the void and pulling herself inch by agonizing inch closer to Sapphire. Anthony and Willow noticed her twitch forward before another wave of evil washed over them. She cried out but kept moving. She reached Sapphire after what felt like eons of pain and managed to grasp his hand. She squeezed as tightly as she could, which wasn't that tight with how weak she was, and prayed once more. "Prayer… Please give us strength… please give _him _strength… if it is at all possible… Somebody… help us…"

**Ω**

Doctor Andonuts put away his tools, glancing every once in a while at where the Phase Distorter once sat before his son and his friends disappeared in it. Apple Kid was next to him, working on one device or another. He might have to offer the child an apprenticeship with him, he was rather intelligent after all.

Several Mr. Saturns wobbled by, speaking in their odd tongue before suddenly stopping. He blinked as he felt a wave of worry wash over him, and his mouth went dry. _Anthony…_ His son was in danger. Not just him, but his friends too… Apple Kid next to him and all of the Mr. Saturns across the valley felt it as well. They all began praying and hoping for the safety of Anthony and his friends.

**Ω**

"Please give us strength… anyone who can hear our plea… help us…" Next to her, Sapphire's robotic corpse shifted.

**Ω**

Lucky hummed as he walked back to their bus, stretching after a good show where they _weren't _forced by a contract to perform. He really hoped he saw those kids again so he could thank them. He saw his fellow band members of the Runaway Five meandering and talking before he stopped in his tracks. Something… was wrong.

They were in trouble. His fellow band members felt it as well. Those kids… They needed their help. They all prayed and hoped fervently for the safety of Sapphire and his friends.

**Ω**

**IT HURTS SAPPHIRE**

**IT FEELS GOOD SAPPHIRE**

"Please give us strength! Speed this prayer to all the people of the earth!" Sapphire twitched. Several lights along his body lit up.

**Ω**

As Willow's father held his wife in his arms, thankful that they and the children of the preschool were safe in their basement while chaos reigned outside, he felt a sudden chill. For a moment, just a moment, he thought that he could hear his daughter's voice, calling for help.

He could tell that his wife and the children heard it through, and he squeezed his eyes shut, praying and hoping sincerely for the safety of Willow and her friends.

**Ω**

**HA...HA...IT HURTS**

**FRIENDS**

A devastating attack slammed into them, but Willow kept praying.

"Please give us strength! Anyone who can hear our plea, help us!" There was movement, but it wasn't from Sapphire. Anthony began crawling over, the determination he felt beginning to overcome his fear. Noct stumbled to his feet, and crashed down next to them, breathing heavily.

**Ω**

Tony shot awake from his bed and clutched his chest, a feeling of anxiousness screaming through him. He got out of bed and shot out of his room, ignoring the prefects at the back of the common room. It wasn't quite lights-out yet, so he wouldn't get in trouble for being out of his room. Either way, the prefects looked at him in confusion at what he was doing out of his room.

He stared out the windows of the boarding school, which was thankfully safe from the invasion occurring all across the rest of the earth as it was in the middle of nowhere, and clenched his hands together. He prayed and hoped strongly for the safety of Anthony and his friends.

**Ω**

**I'M SO SAD**

**SAPPHIRE**

**IT FEELS SO GOOD**

**I'M GLAD**

"Please grant us power! Anyone who can hear our plea… help us!" Noct gripped Sapphire's arm, while Anthony lay down next to him and gripped his other hand. His body began whirring.

**Ω**

Noct's Sensei slowly opened his eyes, a frown on his face. The Prince and his friends were in danger. He saw several maids and PSI Users within the palace whispering among themselves, each feeling dread, and several Clairvoyance users muttering about his death. He raised a hand and said that they could only pray.

And so they did. They all began to pray and hope for the well-being of Noct and his friends.

**Ω**

An arctic wind of hopelessness washed over them, yet Willow kept praying. "Please grant us strength! Anyone who can hear our plea… we ask for this…"

**Ω**

Frank helped place an unconscious man onto one of the non-broken hospital beds and wiped his forehead. His glasses had shattered, so he put them aside and sat down, deep exhaustion filling his bones. As he sat there, he remembered hearing about the blonde girl and Asian boy who'd helped defend the hospital, and the raven-haired boy and blond boy who saved the schools. Heh. He knew who they were.

He frowned as he recalled Sapphire's face, shining with hope, and felt a sudden worry. He began to pray and hope diligently for the safety of Sapphire and his friends.

**Ω**

It hurt so much, yet she wouldn't give in. Again, more prayers. "Please, anyone who can hear my call... I beg you, lend us strength, please!"

**Ω**

Across space-time in a place so similar yet so different, a hoodie-wearing boy felt a sense of unease and some other emotion washed over him.

He clasped his hands together and began praying and hoping truthfully for the safety of Sapphire and his friends.

**Ω**

**SAPPHIRE**

**...SAPPHIRE…**

**S...A...P...P...H...I...R...E**

"Please grant us power! Speed this prayer to as many people as can hear it!"

**Ω**

Tracey sat silently, watching people move about around her. Where was mom? She knew big bro was out saving people, but shouldn't her mom be here, with everyone else? In safety? The hospital stank of alcohol and other scents as people were wiped down and treated, but she couldn't seem to muster up any emotion at all.

…

She felt a sudden pang in her heart. What…? Her head tilted up, and she glanced out the windows into the stormy sky. Big brother Sapphire… He was hurt… He needed her help… but she couldn't help at all… No, there was a way… He'd lost his hope, after being beaten down over and over, and faced with an impossible challenge. She'd help him recover it. She began praying and hoping for the safety of Sapphire and his friends.

**Ω**

"I can't think of anyone else… Someone… anyone… please help us…"

Her call

was absorbed

by the darkness.

* * *

Sapphire lay on nothing, but at least this time it was peaceful. No monstrous mists, no heckling by Pokey, just the blissful silence. He was… a bit upset that he couldn't save his friends, but what else could he have done? Against Giygas, hope was useless. Better to give up and fade into the silence, than fight and suffer. Despair? Funny that he'd fought it for so long, before giving in so quickly.

…

Was someone calling to him?

"Sapphire… I wanted to thank you. You helped keep my son safe, and protected him along his journey." His eyes slowly drifted upwards, and he saw Doctor Andonuts smiling down at him. "You also helped me reconnect with my son, and maybe sometime soon, if I hold Hope, he'll call me father."

Doctor Andonuts…? Ah… this was probably some dream. His subconscious mind trying to keep him going and fighting. But what use was Hope here, in this dark dimension…?

"Sapphire… Back in Twoson, nobody believed in me." Andonuts faded away, and Apple Kid replaced him. "Everyone preferred Orange Kid, but you still… what I asked for to fund me was probably a lot, especially for someone you had just met, but you still did so. Why?" Apple Kid chuckled. "Either way… You gave me Hope, in your own way."

Did he give him hope? But… it was such a small gesture. Sure, two-hundred dollars was a lot back then, but it still wasn't that big of a deal… Could such a gesture really touch someone's heart like that? He shifted, before collapsing.

Apple Kid vanished, replaced by the members of the Runaway Five. One of them stepped forward. "Heya, kiddo. Great to see you again. All of us can't thank you enough, you saved us not just once, but twice." The man grinned, "Getting stuck in either of those theatres for the rest of our lives wouldn't exactly be fun. You gave us Hope. Thanks, kid."

He felt a brief smile fall onto his face, as the haze of Despair lifted for a moment. Both times that he'd helped them he had been convinced to by Willow, but deep down he'd known it was the right thing to do.

The Runaway Five were replaced by Willow's dad, the blond man he'd only met once. "Hey, kid. I wanted to thank you for taking care of my little girl like you have been this whole journey. And I know you'll treat her like a gentleman when you get out of this." Heh, so this was just a dream… her dad didn't know that they'd started dating, after all. "But seeing the innocent love that you two feel… It fills me with Hope for your generation." Well then. Don't most dads just threaten the kids dating their little girls? A small smile appeared for a bit longer.

Tony appeared next, smiling awkwardly. "Hey, I only met you for a little while, but… I can see how you've affected Anthony after only a few days with him. I care for him a lot… Thank you so much for protecting him as you've done so far. I Hope that you continue to do so… and don't lose the Hope you've held close to your heart."

Noct's Sensei appeared next, and his smile was calmer and more serene. "Starr-San… Leader of the Chosen Four. Though Noct-San was meant to protect you, you have done well in protecting him. Though, you must keep in mind _why _ancient scriptures have named you the Chosen Boy. You will be the one to wield the World's Hope. You are He Who Shall Save Humanity. He Who Shall Transcend Space. He Who Holds Hope. Keep these titles close to your heart, and regain your Hope."

He Who Holds Hope? What an ironic title… He'd never felt more hopeless… Frank appeared and grinned as he adjusted his glasses. "Hey, kid. You really helped me out of a rut, all those days ago. If it weren't for you, who knows how many people I might have hurt with the Sharks and the Frankystein Mark Two? It seems like you've given Hope to and connected with a lot of people… even delinquents like me."

He twitched, and tried to move his arms around to lift himself up, but fell back down. That was all well and good… But no matter how many people he gave Hope to, he still had none remaining for himself… He'd given up…

"Really? You've given up?" He slowly looked up to see a younger Pokey, not corrupted by Giygas. "I thought you weren't anything like me? I gave up and looked to Giygas to give me strength and fame, instead of searching for it myself. Your friends are counting on you. You're a hero. Heroes never give up, right?"

…

He was right… He began pushing himself up, even as the darkness began pressing down. He was slammed back down as the darkness whispered words of comfort, telling him to just lay down and let it end.

_"Sapphire, Willow, Anthony, Noct...I hope you're safe...take care of yourselves...you four can beat Giygas...I know you will...Sorry for being such a jerk...that's just the way I am." Sapphire twitched at the familiar voice. That was...? Huh. Maybe he wasn't a total jerk. A smirk came to his face, before darkness crashed into him again, smothering it._

"It's... fine... Could have been less of an ass though..." He grunted out instead, the world continuing to press down on him.

_"Hey, I didn't realize you just lost your mother and who knows what else...I hope everything worked out in the end for you four...I don't know if you lost anything else, or if time rewrote itself back to normal, or who knows what other possibilities, considering you attacked from the past."_

What, did he and his friends do something different? Heh, maybe they should have attempted something other than a frontal assault, but that was just what Sapphire was best at. More whispers reached his ears, and his heart jumped when he thought he could hear Willow, Anthony, and Noct whispering. He attempted to reach them, but couldn't, so he just muttered back to them, promising they'd figure everything out. He didn't know if they could hear him, but...

_"Well...wherever you guys are...wherever you go...whatever the future holds...I hope things work out. I'm going to make the assumption that everything worked out just fine...at least you aren't moving worlds...I hope...I hope to see you again someday...who knows...but for now...I think I'm just gonna sit tight with Sarah and Astro. I hope we can continue our little friendship."_

Hehe... even he could Hope when he couldn't? He really had to step up his game... Maybe they could meet again since he felt a certain kinship and friendship with the boy. No, he _knew_ they could... if he survived this. A determined look crossed his face, and he began forcing himself to his knees. He panted, pain shooting through him as Despair and Darkness crushed him.

"Big brother…" _Trace…_ "Please don't give up… I don't want to lose you too…" Sobs met his ears. _Tracey, don't cry… please don't cry… _"You're my hero… You're the coolest brother ever, you can't lose! I-I'll be a good girl… just please come back!"

"T… ra… cey…" He growled as he forced himself to his feet, not even the unrelenting force pushing down on him preventing him from getting to his feet. "I'm… I'm coming, I promise…" He saw her now, a younger Tracey, one not scarred by the horrors of the invasion, looking up at him with adoration and love. He took a step forward, nearly falling, before forcing himself to take another, and another. He knelt down when he was near her and hugged her close. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, big bro… just promise that you'll never lose your Hope again."

"I promise. I'll fight. I'll win. You're counting on me. The World is counting on me. My _friends_ are counting on me."

She tilted her head and smiled, before vanishing in flecks of light.

"You helped me make so many new friends," Anthony's voice suddenly spoke, "you helped me reconnect with my father… Thank you."

"I learned so many things," Noct's voice said, "not just fighting, but how to live happily. You truly mean the world to me, my friend."

"Do I really need to say it?" Willow's voice giggled. "Come on, we're counting on you, Sapphy…"

He smiled and felt the bonds they had formed. They were stronger than any other…

The darkness surrounding him lifted, revealing the bright colors of Magicant, and the forms of his three friends before they vanished. A small flash occurred and revealed the Sound Stone, which he grasped and held close to his heart. His friends were waiting.

**Ω**

His eyes slid open. Willow was whispering next to him. "There's no one else I can think of… Please…"

"There's a few that I can think of…" Willow gasped, and he grinned as her eyes snapped to his. His body felt weak. Oh. His right arm was missing. Well, that sucked. Whatever. He used Lifeup and healed everyone easily, recovering his arm at the same time.

He got up, and unlike his friends who were pressed down by an immeasurable yet immensely powerful force, he was able to stand tall. He looked down and opened his hand, revealing the shining Sound Stone, and where previously it was a dark, glossy sphere, it now shone brightly with Two new colors. The colors of Hope, bright, pure white and a beautiful bright blue. He was no longer tainted by the blood-red and deep gold of Giygas.

"Willow… I need you to keep Praying. Can you do that?"

"I…"

"Willow." He turned back. "Hold Hope in your heart."

"...Prayer! Please, anyone!"

He smiled and turned back. High above them, he heard Pokey. "WHAT?! How are you alive?! You died!"

Willow's prayers were reaching people that they met along their journey. People that they'd touched the hearts of, and brought Hope to. But they needed the Hope of many more. And that was what he'd connected with the Sanctuaries for. The World accepted him as part of it. Eight Points. Distributed so he could touch everyone's hearts. The Sea of the Unconscious.

Willow's Prayer washed over his body like a cloak, and he closed his eyes as he spread his arms. Giygas attacked once more, and even though the attack was just as powerful and unknowable, he didn't waver. The Prayers were absorbed into him, and using Hope, he pierced the dark dimension and let them flow from each Sanctuary.

All around the world, no matter how much hopelessness they had previously felt as their homes were destroyed, or their loved ones were killed, they knew that if they held Hope in their Hearts, then four heroes would be able to stand tall. Four heroes would save them.

They prayed.

Hundreds, then thousands, then millions, then finally billions. Sapphire felt everyone's Hopes through his connection to the World, which led to him, which led into Giygas' dimension. Giygas immediately roared in pain. Giygas was pure evil energy, he no longer had a physical form. Human emotions like Hope were his bane, they brought pain to Giygas, a being that normally would not have been able to be hurt.

**NO**

**IT HURTS**

**IT FEELS GOOD**

**SAPPHIRE**

"This is the end, Giygas." A massive attack drew near, but he withstood it easily. He turned to his friends and saw them slowly getting up, his ability to stand against Giygas giving them their own Hope back.

"My purpose… is to protect Sapphire and the world… I will not be defeated here!" Noct withdrew Faithkeeper from the ground, and her runes audibly sang in glee.

"I gave up once, but not again! I have… I have friends that need me!" Anthony grasped his Gaia Cannon, huffing heavily yet a small smirk settling onto his face.

"My friends have my back, so I'll have theirs. As long as we're all together, none of us will give up." Willow smiled at her boyfriend, and he smiled back.

**IT HURTS...IT HURTS...ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS**

Sapphire narrowed his eyes while Willow kept praying. He heard the voices of everyone in the world, sending their Hopes to him in return and he let them loose, lighting up Giyas' void with human prayers.

**STOP**

**NINTEN**

**IT HURTS**

**SAPPHIRE**

Ninten? He mouthed the name in confusion. What did his grandfather have to do with anything? "WHY AREN'T YOU DYING?!" Pokey's Mech attempted to slam down on him, but a Bottle Rocket sent it off course.

"Noct, Anthony, keep him off us. Willow, keep Praying." Everyone nodded, and Sapphire flared with Hope to defend them from another attack. Giygas howled in pain and fear and rage, but he stood firm. The Hope of the world flowed through him, and he wouldn't give up.

Never again.

"Hope." Giygas screeched, his misty form churning as pain it never should have felt coursed through him, destroying him from the inside out and the outside in. "Hope."

"Please, everyone who can hear this, pray, pray with all your Heart…"

"Hope! Hope!" Pokey tried to get to him but was foiled at every turn by Noct and Anthony, both of them working in perfect synchronization to stop the insane child. "HOPE!"

Giygas roared, and a red mist swallowed them. Sapphire narrowed his eyes and stood his ground, only for a sensation similar to his stomach lurching occurred. He saw four people, three boys, and one girl stood atop a mountain, the boy with his hat and raven-hair, and the girl with a few of his features, and all four of them were fighting a powerful monster.

The vision ended as another attack drew near, and he called upon Humanity's Hopes to dispel it once more. Another vision struck. He was in a different place, a void similar to Giygas' but the only things there were two things: A blond boy, and a large sphere. The boy placed his hand a window that looked into the sphere, and a moment later he stood where the boy was, looking in. Inside, Pokey, grey and aged, looked back at him, placing his hand on the window. The pane was too thick, unbreakable, like the rest of the sphere. Pokey would suffer eternally. In this future, he hadn't been able to save him...

A blast of energy from Pokey's mech brought him out of the vision. "Why can't I ever win?!" Pokey screeched, one of his mechs legs being blown to ashes by Anthony. "Why are you looking down on me?!" He didn't answer, knowing that Pokey's insanity, envy, fear, and rage had all been powered up by Giygas both before and after the Devil's Machine had been turned off. Most people would think that there was no more helping him, but he wasn't most people. He wouldn't give up Hope that Pokey was, deep inside, what he had once been. His friend.

He turned back to Giygas, well, he turned away from Pokey. Giygas was the very universe around him, a universe of grief and fear, but no matter how strong an entire universe worth of despair was…

Hope would overcome it.

He closed his eyes, and sent one last prayer through the Sanctuaries, one of his own as dozens of visions began assaulting him. He remembered the talking rock's words back in the Lost Underworld. Reality would crumble, Space would distort, and time would fail. Each vision was of the past or the future or the present, some of them true, some of them what-ifs, and each vision of the present holding a different Sapphire, sometimes not even named Sapphire, fighting off Giygas in their own way.

He felt the bonds he forged with his fellow Chosen and felt them echoed across the multiverse. He knew… Anytime all four of them existed, they would always find each other. No matter their differences, they would always band together as the best of friends.

His prayer sped across the universe, uniting all Hope as one. "Everyone… Please…"

Onett prayed. Twoson prayed. Threed, Fourside, Winters prayed. Summers, Dalaam, The Tenda, Saturn Valley prayed.

The universe prayed.

All of us prayed.

_Thump Thump._

**NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO**

**F...R...I...E...N...D...S**

**HELP ME**

"It'll be over soon. You won't have to suffer anymore." Giygas' form shifted, and as the darkness all crashed down onto him, one last, futile effort to snuff out his Hope, he shone.

He shone with the light he had been Gifted with. And with that light, he saw the creature that Giygas had once been.

_Take a melody…_

_Thump Thump._

A lonely alien, Giegue, saved by Sapphire's ancestors and protected, until he left.

_Simple as can be…_

_Thump Thump. _

Then, filled with hatred when he realized his family had stolen the secrets of PSI, he returned to eradicate humanity.

_Give it some words and _

_Thump Thump._

His grandfather Ninten, and his Grandmother Ana, along with their friends Lloyd and Teddy fought him, singing the Melodies that Maria sang to him, filling him with guilt.

_Sweet harmony…_

_Thump Thump._

He retreated, but the dissonance of the guilt and stress battled with the duty he felt for his home planet and tore his mind asunder.

_Raise your voices…_

_Thump Thump._

Giygas was born, but without emotion nor compassion, simply a malevolent being of pure evil, fear, and chaos. The being they could not save as his grandparents had done… but he could release him from his torment. Giygas was invincible… a being who could destroy universes with his unfathomable power… yet with a weakness.

_All day long now love grows strong now_

_Thump Thump. _

"This is the Hope of the entire universe… the Hope that will save everyone, including you. Giygas, this is your end." His body pulsed with light and Hope, of such an intensity that Giygas shied back and cried out, while Pokey, filled with Giygas' evil, screamed in pain. Any creature, all across the universe with even an _inkling _of Giygas' power was either obliterated like the Starmen, or purified, like the wild animals rampaging across the world. The only reason Pokey survived was that Sapphire forgave him and wouldn't give up on him, and did not wish for his end. Anthony and Noct backed away, standing by him and Willow.

_Sing a melody of _

_Thump Thump._

He grasped Willow's hand, and Anthony and Noct placed their own hands on top of theirs. He smiled at all of them, and they smiled back. They loved each other. Willow and he romantically, and platonically for the rest, but it was just as strong. No one was less valuable than any other. And even though he'd shone brightly with the Hope of the world, the Hope of these three… they made him shine thrice as bright. They filled him with Love. With Hope.

He gripped the Sound Stone hard in his other hand, before shattering it. The Eight Melodies of Earth's Sanctuaries sang through the air, mixing with the whispered song of the lullaby that echoed through his head. The one power he'd learned at Magicant… The Earth had told him it wasn't time to know it yet. But _now_ it was time.

So many people… all across the world, all of them praying… all of them Hoping… They'd been bound together with so many… And the bonds they'd made in person, Frank, Tony, Apple Kid, the Saturns, Doctor Andonuts, Tracey, Sensei, Pokey, the Runaway Five… their bonds were the strongest. Shadow Sapphire appeared in the back of his mind and smiled at him, nodding. Casey, laying at his feet, floated up and landed in his hand, whispering encouragement. All of their Hearts were one.

They were Bound by Their Hearts.

"Giygas… I Hope you find peace."

**PLEASE**

**IT HURTS**

_Love… Oh, Love._

He held his hand forward. His energy converged, glowing his new colors, the pure white and bright blue, contrasting Giygas' endless black and blood red. It was the ultimate attack, not just against those filled with Corruption, but any creature, with any sort of darkness in its heart.

A blast of energy coalesced by the Hearts of Man, forged by Hope, and capable of slaying the immortal.

"Heart Bound."

_Thump. Thump._

The Heartbeat stopped.

The power of the Earth and the Hope of the Universe flowed through his body, yet he stayed silent, even as it tore up his body on the inside. His friends kept clenching his hands, helping him handle the power flowing through his body, even as it tore them up as well. Giygas took it far worse than any of them, however, letting out demonic screeches louder than anything else he'd heard. The blast tore apart Giygas' immortal and incorporeal body, bringing it closer and closer to death.

For several brief moments before the end, the bodies of the Chosen transformed into their human forms, not just illusions, but actual flesh and blood and cloth, purely by the determination and Hopes in their Hearts. They were buffeted by the winds that flew from Sapphire's body, but none of them gave up, they all stood their ground as Giygas was eradicated.

Pokey, watching it all occur, swallowed dryly, before slamming several buttons on his mech. He needed to leave. He wasn't running! He was just… planning his next attack! Yeah! A tactical retreat! Just before he pressed the last button he hesitated, looking up. His eyes met Sapphire's.

Sapphire said nothing, not even paying attention to Giygas as he utterly destroyed him, but his eyes shone. _I'm sorry, _they said. _And I forgive you, my friend._

_I'm sorry too,_ he unwillingly said back. He looked down and pressed the last button. In the end, his old friend hadn't given up on him… he'd tried to help him. Perhaps… perhaps he would just find an era where he could live out his days in peace. A thank you to his friend who never gave up on him.

As Pokey's mech vanished, Sapphire returned his gaze to Giygas' vanishing form. He finally lowered his hand, but even without Heart Bound bringing light to the void, the darkness was no longer as crushing. Giygas' mist drifted lazily, lifelessly. It was done.

**Thank…**

**You…**

He smiled at the nothing, before falling to his knees. Without Giygas' power to sustain it, the dimension was collapsing. Whether their souls would return to their bodies… He Hoped with all his Heart it would happen, but he just didn't know. He turned his head, feeling his hair brush against his cheek, bringing a small smile to his face at the feeling of his body. A wider smile came to his face when he spotted Willow looking at him, and they clenched their still interlocked hands.

"Get a room…" Anthony coughed, causing him and Willow to laugh.

"If you would like, I can set up a Dalaam wedding."

"I don't think we're ready for that yet," he coughed out, a weaker chuckle escaping him.

"No matter what happens… If we go back home or not… I love all of you," Willow whispered.

"Love you guys too."

"I… never had anyone besides Sensei to love… But I love you all as well."

"Ugh, so sappy… But, I suppose I love you guys too."

He closed his eyes.

* * *

What felt like milliseconds later, his eyes shot open. Willow was looking down at him, golden hair framing her face like a halo. "He's awake!"

"Not even God can slay me," he grinned, before coughing as Anthony punched him in the stomach.

"We were worried, asshole."

"I will blast you with Heart Bound, I swear to Giygas," he coughed. Anthony hid behind Willow. "That's what I thought, loser."

"Perhaps we shouldn't be threatening our comrades with universe ending attacks."

"Silence your face hole, Noct."

"Daga kotowaru."

"Did… what did he say?"

"It translates to 'I refuse.'"

Everyone was silent, before bursting out into laughter and dogpiling onto Sapphire, the pure elation of winning against an unkillable foe overpowering any dark feelings that had been brewed over the past day. "We did it!" Willow cheered.

"We truly saved the world… I still can't believe it!" Anthony giggled excitedly, eyes shining with mirth behind his glasses.

"It was foretold that we would, I'm not sure what you're all surprised by."

"Shut it Noct, you don't know how to have fun!"

"I find that offensive, I am very fun."

"I find that hard to believe!" as Willow teased and Noct calmly argued back with a smile, he sighed, letting the breeze tickle him. They'd done it… They'd really done it! They may have lost a lot along the way… but they saved so many more.

The War against Giygas was over.

He shifted, feeling something uncomfortable under him, and grabbed Casey. _"Well done, master." _He just smiled at the bat. After getting up and realizing they were in Saturn Valley, they limped their way to where Doctor Andonuts had sent them off from. Oh, they weren't injured, besides Anthony's punch, their real bodies hadn't been injured in that final attack, it was just the exhaustion slamming into their souls.

When the Doctor saw them his eyes lit up, and he ran over to pull Anthony tightly into his arms. The boy jerked in surprise, before slowly hugging him back with tears in his eyes. "You all… you're all safe."

"Yep. Anthony was great in the end. Helped out more than Noct did," he teased.

"Silence, thot."

"Did… did Noct just meme at me?"

"I think that's his way of showing he's overcome with emotion."

Noct smiled at her, before taking a breath. "Everyone…" Andonuts let go of Anthony, and the Chosen Four faced each other. "I must take my leave now. Our travels together end here. I must return to Dalaam, and use these experiences for the good of my country."

"Hey, why are saying goodbye?"

"I just-"

"When you should really be saying 'I'll see you later?'" Noct stopped and blinked. "This isn't goodbye. I'll come visit you, and you can come visit me whenever you want. You've helped us so much… Thank you, Noct." Noct smiled, and unlike every previous time where they had to pull Noct into the hug, Noct stepped forward of his own volition and hugged them.

There was a click and a flash, and Sapphire turned his head to see the Photoman. He smiled at the man, and he smiled back, vanishing in a flash of light.

"See ya, Nocty!"

"I'll have Sapphire teleport me over a lot so I can bug you about Dalaam culture and history."

"Hm… I suppose I'll have to be ready for you then, heh. Goo- See you later, everyone." With that, Noct Teleported home to Dalaam, leaving three.

Anthony looked at where he'd disappeared, before turning back and smiling at them. "Sapphire, Willow. It was great hanging out with you guys. It really, truly was. And… I'm glad I had the chance to use some of the theories that I have been studying so hard. Our journey was truly remarkable…"

"Hell yeah, it was." He slugged Anthony on the shoulder. "You're like a smarter, annoying little brother. It was fun hanging with you."

"Yeah, you better invite us to all your science talks when you become famous!"

"Heh, of course. If… maybe…" Anthony grinned and nudged him back. "If you two do get hitched someday, maybe I'll be the one that fixes your broken electronic appliances."

"It's a deal," he grinned back.

"I'm going to stay here for a while and see what I can learn from Doctor Andonuts. I mean… from dad." He smiled in thanks at the raven-haired boy, deep gratitude shining in his eyes. "I guess this is goodbye, for now, friends."

"Good luck, bro."

"See ya, Anty."

The blond boy walked towards his father and began happily talking with him, leaving just the raven boy and blonde girl. They turned to each other and clasped their hands together. "Sapphy, will you escort me home?"

"Of course." They smiled calmly at each other, an understanding that couldn't be achieved by normal people apparent in their gazes. They began walking.

Teleporting would have felt… wrong. They wanted to enjoy their time together before they finally left. They made their way back through Grapefruit Falls, the water flowing swiftly alongside them, and the grass bright green. Even the underground tunnel seemed brighter, and the sun shone down happily upon Threed.

The destruction was still there, but all of Giygas' forces had vanished. It probably had to do with defeating Giygas in the past erasing his troops in the future, alongside Heart Bound purifying and destroying Giygas' corruption from the animals, but the destruction and the memories of what they'd gone through were still there. Willow squeezed his hand he smiled back, before turning to the destruction. Everyone was rebuilding, even if it was slow going. Each person was determined, with Hope in their Hearts that they could move past the tragedies.

They waited for a bus, which only took a short time, and the ride through the tunnel towards Twoson was the opposite of their ride in. Before, it had been loud with the Runaway Five's instruments, and disturbing with the landscape outside, but now it was calm and quiet, peaceful. Willow laid her head upon his shoulder, and he laid his on her head.

When the bus arrived in Twoson, Sapphire pulled her away from her house. He knew her family was safe instinctively, and he wanted to get her a gift. A reminder of everything they'd gone through. They reached Twoson's department store, which was mostly intact, and made their way up the floors. Willow opened her mouth to question Sapphire, but he winked and held his hands over her eyes.

They shuffled along, their positioning awkward until Sapphire pulled his hands back. "Open your eyes." She did so and gasped when she saw him holding a teddy bear identical to the one she'd had when he first rescued her. "I thought that... you know…"

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to blush and stutter. "Thank you, Sapphy. I love it." He smiled through his embarrassment and they made their way to the counter. He checked the price tag and lay down the appropriate amount of money since nobody was working with all of the recovery efforts happening outside.

Finally, they walked down the street to Willow's home. It was damaged, but when she knocked her father immediately answered and pulled her into a hug. He looked up with tear-filled eyes and thanked him silently. He just smiled and nodded back. As he pulled Willow inside the house she turned to him and smiled. "Thank you for escorting me home, Sapphire."

"See ya later, Wils." The door closed, and he breathed out, turning away. He trekked out of Twoson and through the words towards Onett, looking over the destruction in the streets as he made his way to the hospital. There were still plenty of people there, but each one that saw him began whispering their thanks with teary eyes. In Onett, you knew most everyone. It seemed that it was enough for them to remember his actions in protecting them, instead of suppressing the memories as the Hawk-Eye had said.

He smiled and talked with everyone that stopped him, and since it seemed like they remembered his actions anyway, he began healing as many people as he could, before making his way to Tracey's room. Inside, was a surprising face. His father looked up from where he sat at Tracey's bedside and smiled tiredly. "Howdy, kid."

"Dad…" He walked forward and hugged him, burying his face in the man's shoulder. "I'm sorry… I couldn't save mom…"

"Hey… It's alright… I don't blame you, kid." His dad forced a grin and twirled one of Sapphire's dark locks. "I am a bit upset you lost our family hat." He reached up and felt his head, before remembering he'd taken his cap with him into the past. Why it didn't return, but Casey did, he didn't know, but it might have had to do with Casey being bound to his soul.

"Sorry, dad."

"It's alright, it's alright… I was able to come home after the chaos… But it seems like no one outside of Onett and a few other people can remember the monsters, so I'll have to get back to work." His father looked frustrated, and he smiled.

"Dad, it's fine. I… I can take care of myself and Trace. You don't have to worry."

His dad looked down at him, a dark look crossing his face. "How dare that monster, forcing you to grow up when you should still be a child… a child enjoying life with his friends… a child that shouldn't have had to go through that trauma…"

"What's done is done," he sighed. "We can only move forward."

"Of course… but Tracey…"

"I'll help her along. When do you have to leave?"

"Well… I can stay until your birthday," His father winked, a weak smile adorning his face.

"Oh yeah, that's soon." he nodded, before looking at Tracey, peacefully sleeping. "I want to go help rebuild, but… I don't want to leave her."

"Be selfish for once. No one will blame you."

He opened his mouth to retort before exhaustion washed over him. He sighed, leaning against his father. He closed his eyes and reached out, feeling his bonds. Everyone. Anthony. Noct. Willow. Tracey shifted, and he grabbed her hand. Her face flickered, a tiny smile forming. Everyone that he'd managed to save were safe now... those that weren't were looking down and smiling from heaven. He smiled back at Tracey, and finally, _finally,_ was able to rest.

* * *

**A melancholy ending? Eh. Yes, happiness and friendship were core themes, but they had to have been tested to reach the end. But we can continue on. Rebuild. Like I said, middle of the week update... might post the epilogue on Friday or Saturday, I've had it finished for a while. **

**I suppose I'll clear up some things just in case. Yes, Pokey ran away like canon, but this time, instead of beginning the process of Mother 3, the small part of him that was uncorrupted shines brightly because of Sapphire's forgiveness and willingness to still believe in him allows him to just peacefully leave to some lost era to live and atone by himself. He still did horrible things so he isn't redeemed, but he's punishing himself and letting everyone live their lives.**

**Due to time shenanigans (Plus Heart Bound), Giygas' troops were erased, but the destruction they caused still occurred, and Heart Bound, while mainly used to kill Giygas, was powerful enough to blast through the dimensional walls and purify the animals of the world, as well as destroy the troops remaining in the Cave of the Past. Pokey survived, as I stated, because Sapphire chooses to spare and forgive him, and wanted to see if he could change on his own. If he couldn't the Chosen Four could have easily beaten him too, but he wanted to hold Hope that his old friend could change.**

**Only a few people, due to their bonds with the Chosen, even remember Giygas' monsters and their PSI, but Onett, as I said, was a small town where everyone knew each other, and due to Sapphire saving everyone, was able to hold onto their memories. That'll actually be a plot point in the sequel, though probably not in the way you'd think, mostly as a way to give character to the protagonist. **

**Yes, Mother One did occur in this universe, but I made Ninten and Ana Ness/Sapphire's grandparents instead of Parents simply because if they were his parents, they'd go with Ness/Sapphire to protect him with their own PSI. That might mess with the timeline a tiny bit, but eh, not too big of a deal, just kinda gloss over that.**

**I feel like I did alright with the small romance portions, even though like I said the last chapter, they weren't the focus of the story. Besides that, they **_**are **_**both thirteen. I didn't feel comfortable making them do anything more than a kiss on the cheek, no matter how much the journey matured them. You'll get to see them a bit grown in the Epilogue, so I'll at least be able to do a bit more. No smut though. I AIIIIIIIN'T HAVIN' THAT SHIT! In all seriousness, Considering the sequel also focuses on bonds but with a heavier focus on romance, there'll be some more stuff. Just probably not by who you think.**

**If I ever made a Smash story, I feel like one of the jokes would be that each alternate costume form of a character would actually be a completely separate character. Like, there would be a regular Ness in Smash, and then Sapphire would be… I don't know, a Silver and blue-skinned version of Ness, so each skin has a separate personality and is their own person. Kind of like how Link has his BOTW costume, and then his costumes from other games, each Link skin is a different Link. I don't think I'll be doing a Smash story anytime soon though, the only idea I'd really have is a Subspace Emissary story but with Ultimate characters… Of course, that's an if. Any of you guys can try writing that story if you'd like, I won't be trying it anytime soon. Maybe one day. Just give me some royalties, lol.**

**Speaking of, there was a small line that you may have missed, which basically said whenever Sapphire, Willow, Anthony, and Noct all exist, they're bound by fate (BOUND BY THEIR HEARTS HA) to always meet. Explains my other stories, doesn't it? lol. Just a fun little thing I wanted to put in, the strings of fate always connecting them together. **

**I'll leave the goodbyes for the epilogues Author Note since that'll be the proper final chapter, but for now, leave a review on everything that you liked in the chapter, or maybe just a 'Nice' both, as I've always said, mean so much to me to read.**

**See y'all next time!**


	34. Epilogue

Chapter: Epilogue

_Several months after the War_

Sapphire tapped his school desk over and over again, watching the clock on the wall.

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

_Taptaptaptaptaptaptap._

"Mister Starr." He froze and looked sheepishly at his teacher, who had an amused smile on his face. "Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"Depends on the answer." The bell-ringing answered for him, and he grinned. His teacher just rolled his eyes and waved his hand. "Alright, you're all free to go for the weekend. Your homework is to read pages fifty to sixty for Monday." He barely heard the last part of his sentence as he jogged out of his classroom, throwing his bag over his shoulder as he was free to go for the weekend.

"Yo, Sapph, see you in the game on Sunday!"

"We'll knock them out of the park!"

"Hey, Sapph, where you going?"

"Meeting up with some friends! Gotta go!"

"Sapph, are you gonna show off some more of those Psychic what-sits?"

"Yo, Sapph!"

"Sapph!"

He exited the school and jogged into the woods, before sighing and Warping. Most kids in Onett were fascinated by his powers, now that everything had calmed down. And he was fine with showing them to people of course, but when he had somewhere to be, everyone crowding him could be annoying. Onett had a tightly knit community at least, so news of his powers never spread far out of Onett because who knew what would happen to him if the government learned of a boy with superpowers?

It was difficult keeping up his energetic personality around his schoolmates, but he was slowly recovering. After the trauma of the final battle, the only times he was actually being happy and energetic was when he was around his fellow Chosen, all of them having gone through the same things that he'd gone through. They brought out his old self.

With just a few short Warps he crossed most of Onett, and stopped at his house. He checked the mail, throwing away spam until he came upon a pure white envelope with a red wax seal and an odd symbol, a circle with a vertical slash and a horizontal one, along with no return address or sign from who it was from, just his name on the back, and stuffed it in his bag to look at later. That wasn't important now. He began Warping across Onett again, before appearing inside the 'Hideout of the Chosen.' Willow came up with the name, of course. He Warped inside and looked around, making sure everything was perfect. Decorations were all set up, lights were off… he checked inside the fridge he'd had Anthony install. Yep, there was the cake. He closed the fridge and nodded. Everything was set up.

There was a flash of light outside the windows and in walked Noct and Anthony. "...uld be about three in the morning in Dalaam!"

"Yes, but I went to bed early last night." Anthony just rolled his eyes at Noct's answer, before turning to Sapphire.

"Ah, you got out of school already?"

"Yeah, about a minute ago. Gonna head to Twoson to grab Willow, she'll be out of school in thirty minutes."

"Great, there's not much else to get ready, you've done a fine job, so I suppose I'll just wait here. Tracey will be coming, won't she?"

"Yeah, she gets out a bit later than I do, but I told her she should come. She's still pretty quiet, so a party might help her."

"Right. Noct, you'll be grabbing…?"

"Correct."

"You didn't even know what I was going to say."

"Telepathy."

"Ugh."

He snickered at his friends, before Teleporting to Twoson. He appeared on the outskirts, looking out for anyone that had spotted him. Seeing no one nearby, he jogged out of the words and down Twoson's streets. He smiled at the sight of repaired buildings and a non-burning park. Several months meant that most of the world had been repaired after the invasion, and even though it was a bit annoying that no one except those they were close to could remember, some of the conspiracy theories on what had happened were slightly amusing.

Earthquakes, lightning storms, invisible aliens. That last one got a chuckle out of all four Chosen, with how close to the truth it was.

He eventually stopped by a telephone pole, and waited. Willow, as he told Anthony, got out of school thirty minutes after he did. Since they usually hung out after school they knew each other's schedules pretty well. He eventually spotted a familiar girl in a pink dress skipping along the street, humming. He smiled, a slight blush on his face. No matter how many times he saw her he always felt a bit giddy. He snuck up behind her, before wrapping his arms around her to surprise her.

Apparently she'd noticed him because she turned around in his arms and grinned as he pulled her close. He blushed when they were nose to nose, and she giggled as she tapped him on the nose. "Howdy, Sapphy."

"Hey, that's me and my dad's catchphrase…" He forced past his blush and hugged her, before letting her go. "Anyway, I'm here to pick you up, the Chosen are all going to hang out today in our hideout."

"Really?" Willow tilted her head. "Noct was able to get away from his duties? We normally have to Teleport to Dalaam to hang out with him."

"He was able to get some time away, I suppose."

"Huh. Oh, uh, by the by, do you know what today is…?"

It hurt him to pretend he didn't, but he only had to pretend for a little bit. "Friday?"

Her face fell, and he internally cringed, hating that look on her face. "Uh, well…"

"A-Anyway," he cut in, "Let's get going!" Before she could say anything they had teleported back to Onett, outside their not-so-secret hideout.

"Sapphy, what if someone had noticed?!"

"I checked if there was anyone around, don't worry!" Willow just shook her head, and he turned away, a grin forming. Time for the surprise!

He could have opened the door normally, but he liked being dramatic. He kicked it open, although he was careful to not break it off its hinges or damage it. "KNOCK KNOCK!" He stepped back and gestured forward as Willow giggled, walking inside and flicking the lights on.

The lights flickered on, which was the signal. Noct, Anthony, and Tracey jumped up, along with Willow's parents, some of her close friends from school, and Everdred. "Happy birthday Willow!"

Willow blinked in shock, before turning to him. "You _did _remember!" he just grinned.

"Happy B-Day, Wils." She giggled and hugged him, before turning around.

"Let's party then!"

**Ω**

The party lasted all day, with various activities. After eventually eating a pink colored cake with her name and the number fourteen on it, Willow and Sapphire stepped outside to sit on the cliff and watch the ocean. She leaned her head on Sapphire's shoulder, and she could practically feel his blush as he slowly wrapped his arm around her waist.

She giggled silently and nuzzled into his shoulder, closing her eyes. She had quickly figured out that Sapphire looked adorable when he was embarrassed, and she always made sure to do something that would make him blush. They sat silently, just enjoying each other's presence for several minutes.

"Hey…" She opened one eye when she heard Sapphire's whisper, and saw him digging around in his bag. "I know we already did the gift-giving thing, and me, Anthony, and Noct already gave you something…"

Her hands went to her neck, where a locket hung. It was golden, as all four Chosen had agreed that gold would be their group color after Sapphire's Hope lost its gold and red, and engraved with a blue star, a pink sun, a yellow gear, and a black moon. Sapphire, Willow, Anthony, and Noct. And on the inside, one of the Photoman's photos, it was all four of them grinning at the camera and doing various poses. Apparently, the Photoman had come to Sapphire's house after it was rebuilt and gave it to him for free. She'd thought that it was his gift, along with Anty and Nocty, but apparently not.

He pulled out a black plush version of the Xenomorph Queen and handed it to her. "I still have no idea why you like these things, but-"

"I love it!" She squealed and hugged it close to her chest, before hugging him.

"Really? I-I mean of course you do! I'm the best at picking out gifts!" She just rolled her eyes and snickered at his response.

"Yep! Guess I've gotta one-up you for your birthday next year!"

"Please don't, I have no idea what else I can get you that would be good."

"Alright, alright." She just lay her head back down on his shoulder and closed her eyes, shivering a bit from the ocean wind. It was starting to get cold, since her birthday was nearer to the end of the year, unlike Sapphire's. They should probably head back inside soon, but she wanted to enjoy their time alone for a few more minutes. She turned and kissed him on the cheek, smiling. "I love you."

She felt him pull her closer, and knew that he was smiling widely. "I love you too."

* * *

_Nine months after the War_

"GIVE ME THE FUCKING BLUE BEAKER!"

"I GOT IT, I GOT IT!" Sapphire scrambled to grab the beaker that Anthony indicated, sending several glass containers crashing to the ground and almost spilling the contents of it. He quickly Warped across the lab and handed the beaker to Anthony, who snatched it from him and poured it into some weird glass contraption that seemed to break several laws of physics with how it was designed.

"If you caused this whole experiment to go down the drain because of how slow you are, I will slaughter you."

"Try it, bitch."

Anthony ignored him and continued watching the liquids mix at the bottom of the glass contraption before it turned white. "Yes!"

"Alright! ...What did we just do anyway?"

"Ugh, incompetent fool…"

"Know it all jackass."

They smirked at each other before Anthony carefully extracted some of the liquid with a syringe. "Well, I'm currently attempting to recreate the helmets that those men used to unleash their psionic potential. The helmet I had was too broken to fix, and besides that, I did cannibalize it to make the radar back in Onett, but hopefully, someday I can recreate it. This is just the first step."

"Uh, well, I'm not going to stop you, but do you think we should recreate that helmet? If the wrong people were to get their hands on PSI…"

"I know, don't worry. PSI is powerful, and even if I were able to recreate the helmets I wouldn't release any knowledge of them to the public. I wouldn't want someone to gain the sort of power that any of you three wield."

"I'm pretty sure Hope and Heart Bound are unique to me. And besides… the only reason our powers grew at such an exponential rate was because we were fighting so many of Giygas forces. Without any monsters to fight, the only time I've really grown is whenever I visit Noct and we train together, or I hang with Willow and we practice in the woods."

"Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to ask how your powers have grown in the past several months. Have there been any changes? New abilities?"

"What are you, my doctor?"

Anthony chuckled, "Perhaps. I feel I must take care of you three after all."

"Yeah, yeah. Uh, a couple of new developments. Willow taught me Freeze, and I've finally learned Thunder after upgrading Paralysis. Oh, Noct and me learned PSI Magnet, and Willow learned a new level of PSI Shield, one that just absorbs attacks and doesn't reflect them, uh, Sigma, I think."

"So there are more levels than just Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega? Well, I suppose there is the entirety of the Greek alphabet…" He grabbed a notepad and began writing his thoughts down without even looking, trusting his penmanship, so he could go over the theories later. "Anything else?"

"I mean, not really. Like I said, with no reason to fight, I've mostly been focusing on keeping my skills at the same level they've always been, just in case. Warp is pretty much the same, but I can go farther distances and through walls if I know what's on the other side." He waited for Anthony to take a sip of a water bottle. "I can also breach Space-Time and travel the multiverse."

Anthony choked.

"Ha! Just kidding. Unless~..." Anthony glared at him as he snickered, and put down the water bottle.

"I'm not going to try and press for the truth, just in case you are telling the truth and I hurt my brain." He sighed and rolled his neck. "What about Heart Bound, you joke about using it, but can you still use it without the world's Hopes? And what level of PSI even is it?"

"Hm…" He held his hand up and attempted to summon the power of the universe, and it soon began sparkling with blue and white energy. "Yeah, I can."

"But how? For a power of that magnitude, it would require the energy of billions of people, yet you can now power it on your own?"

"Well, I am connected to the Sanctuaries still. As long as people out in the world have Hope, I'm still gathering their power. And even besides that, I generate enough Hope on my own that I can use it maybe once before having to dip into the World's reserves."

"Ugh… only you could have a universe buster level attack on standby…"

"Oh? Universe buster? You know anime lingo now? Have you been watching the shows me and Willow have been recommending?"

"Willow and I," Anthony automatically corrected. "And… yes, they've given me plenty of ideas on new inventions."

"Sure, sure, that's the only reason you watch them."

"Stuff it. Come on, I need to unveil a new invention to get into the university I have my eyes on, and you'll be helping me." As the two began building a new invention, well, Anthony built and Sapphire scrambled around trying to help, Doctor Andonuts watched with a smile from the other side of the lab, happy to see the friendship his son had forged.

* * *

_One year and two months after the War_

"No, you can't go up that way yet, you need more stars."

"Why? It's a staircase, so it has to end."

"Noct, it's a video game about an Italian plumber fighting a giant turtle who kidnapped his girlfriend, I don't think logic is very important here."

"Hm…"

"Dude… ugh, we'll just play something else. Uh, I've got A Link to the Past, Mario Kart, Kirby, though it's more Tracey that plays Kirby when I can get her to. She's better nowadays, but she still has trouble finding the motivation to do anything…"

"Would you like me to help her traverse her Magicant? As I've said before, while Healing doesn't affect psychological issues, Magicant can."

"Well… I'd rather be the one to do that, you know? Her big bro should be the one to help her out, after all."

"Yes, well, the last time you entered Magicant it had Nightmare controlling it. Unless you've gone in since?"

"Only a few times. I tried asking Envy since he's represented by Pokey, and Wisdom if they had any idea where Pokey could have gone but they didn't know. I mean, of course, they wouldn't, they only know what I know, but still…"

Noct smiled. "I think it's very noble of you to still be concerned for Pokey, especially after everything that occurred. What you lost."

He gave a weak smile. "Yeah, well, y'know… I'm 'He Who Holds Hope' after all. I can't exactly afford to give up on someone. Oh, want to know something stupid? People sometimes call me the Sword of Hope which is _stupid_ because Casey is a _bat_! Why am I called the Sword?!"

"Swords are statistically more popular as weapons for heroes than baseball bats."

"I liked you better when you didn't have my sarcasm."

"I feel it adds to my character. Why don't I just train you in sword-fighting? We could reforge Casey into a sword while keeping their conscious."

"Yeah, how about no? Casey is uncomfortable with that idea. I'll go along with the sword lessons though, sounds fun."

"Yes, 'fun.'"

"Hey man, it's not exactly like I'm gonna be in some _other_ world-ending event any time soon, and if I am, then my life sucks extra hard. But right now, nothing is exactly _looming _on the horizon."

"I suppose. Still, it's best to always be prepared."

"Yeah, guess so. Oh, didja hear? Nintendo is planning a party game or whatever where you can fight characters like Mortal Kombat."

"This Mortal Kombat sounds interesting…"

"Ugh, you're hopeless. And that's coming from me!"

"Mortal Kombat sounds like an event we host in Dalaam though." Sapphire blinked. "...I'm joking."

"Listen, if you're gonna be sarcastic, you have to sound like it, otherwise people miss the point."

"I see… I still have much to learn from you, Master."

"Oh goddamnit, not that master bullcrap again…"

They finished playing, and went outside to train their PSI and bodies for the rest of the day. The teasing and joking tones they had while relaxing playing video games vanished, and they began battling with the intent to kill each other. They wouldn't, of course, but they trusted each other enough that they could stop before the battle escalated too far.

Even after so many months of training together though, Sapphire was always the worse off of the two, with multiple cuts and bruises along his body as he breathed heavily, coated in sweat and dirt and mud, while Noct was just slightly winded with some dirt on his clothing and maybe one or two bruises.

"PSI?"

"Let's."

Blue and white energy sparked from his hands, while black energy spiraled around Noct. "Hope ɑ!"

"Starstorm ɑ." Blue and white met black and detonated, shaking the cliffside, before dust settled over the area and both boys dove into it.

"_Danger, duck and roll." _

Sapphire listened to Casey and rolled underneath a blind swipe, leaping up and swinging Casey backhanded towards Noct.

"_Beware, my Prince, a strike from behind." _

Noct moved smoother than Sapphire ever did and deflected the attack. He moved to counter-attack, but Sapphire jumped back into the dust. They both waited in a stalemate before a shudder went through the ground. Pipes burst up, surrounded by a blue aura. Noct flipped through several, landing on one and using it to jump above the dust cloud and shoot a wave of fire down into it.

Sapphire dodged out of it with a Warp, flinging himself up towards Noct where Casey and Faithkeeper clashed. "You've gotten better with PSI Metalicy. Or perhaps that was your Telekinesis?"

"Nah, I'm not good enough with Telekinesis yet to affect things I can't see." He smirked. "I have been learning from Joe though." They crashed back down, still struggling to overpower each other.

"What?"

"_My prince, do not-"_

"Who is Joe?"

A flare of power came from Sapphire. He could slay gods at that moment. He had achieved enlightenment. "JOE MAMA!"

Noct twitched. "I…" Sapphire managed to get in a clean hit, delivering a blow to Noct's face with devastating force. He fell back, clutching his heart. "This loss I cannot recover from… your verbal wit has truly bested me. I can no longer lead my Kingdom. Sapphire, the responsibility falls unto you…"

"Finally I can rule over people as is natural…"

"On second thought, never mind." They both chuckled, and Sapphire made sure to heal both of them. "Well, guess that's my win. Ready to go again?"

"You say that as if it isn't three-hundred twenty-one wins for me, and now one win for you."

"You're saying that as if I'm not going all out."

"True, if you were able to go all out you could handily beat me… But I'd rather not have to repair our battlefields after every one of your wins."

"True. Come on, one more time!"

"Hai!"

* * *

_Three years after the War_

Sapphire looked himself over and smirked. "Lookin' good, Starr."

"You've done that in every window we passed, can you just not?" Anthony sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Ugh, I know I shouldn't have invited you all to my graduation…"

"Well excuse me for knowing I look damn good in a suit," he grinned while striking a pose.

"Willow, please embarrass him."

"You look so cute, my precious gemstone!" She squealed and hugged him, immediately causing the taller boy to begin blushing. Taller, one of the many changes that had occurred over the three years between the War with Giygas, with all of them changing in their own ways.

Sapphire had grown taller as previously stated, and though he was lean and strong from playing baseball, which was improved by the War, it simply grew more apparent over the years. He was now five foot eleven inches tall, and his muscles had filled in. His fashion had changed a bit, going from blues and reds to blues and whites to match the new colors of his PSI, such as white t-shirts with blue designs and faded jeans. He never got a new baseball cap, not wanting to replace the one lost in time, which meant his messy raven-colored hair was always waving in the wind. But his inner-self never changed, and he was able to slightly recover over the three years, being able to show true emotions around people other than the Chosen.

As Sapphire had noted though, he was wearing a suit at the time, all black but with bright blue highlights. He'd wanted white and blue, but it didn't mesh well on an actual suit and hurt people's eyes so he sighed and went for the dark suit. Anthony had even managed to get him to comb his hair for once, a surprise to be sure.

Willow had also grown taller, but not to the extent that the rest of the Chosen had, stopping at five feet and six inches. She had grown from pretty and cute to beautiful and shapely, which Anthony teased Sapphire about as he always blushed upon seeing her, though she was the same person inside, happy and delightful to be around, and also always teasing Sapphire. Unlike everyone else her fashion hadn't changed, still wearing pink-colored clothing, usually dresses, with her favorite red ribbon still adorning her head of golden hair which framed her features and went down to her upper back.

Unlike the pink cutesy ones she usually preferred, now she wore an actual dress to look nice like everyone else as well as high heels. The dress was a darker red and hugged her figure, which caused Sapphire to blank for several minutes after first seeing her in it. She'd even taken off her ribbon and had a sapphire rose over her ear. It didn't mesh perfectly with the color scheme of the dress, but she insisted on wearing it, all the while smiling at Sapphire.

Anthony was just barely below Sapphire in terms of height, being five foot ten inches, a fact that Sapphire smirked at him for. He didn't grow much muscle, still being the leanest male of the group, though he was surprisingly strong, Noct and Sapphire training him from time to time. His fashion had changed the most, becoming laxer. Instead of suits and bow ties, he wore button-up shirts and jeans, though he still managed to exude the air of a genius, which had grown stronger over the years. His flaxen colored hair as well had calmed down, instead of a strict bowl cut, he settled for a simple combed look, though he still kept it short. His personality as well had grown, still exuding his air of playful superiority around the Chosen and becoming _much _more laid back, but when around others, instead of acting superior and deriding them while solving their problem, he attempted to aid them through a problem.

Anthony looked the most natural, having worn suits for most of his life, and actually managed to make his white suit look good, though it helped that instead of bright blue being its highlight, it instead had black. He also had a rose on his lapel, but that was just to look fancy.

Noct grew to a towering seven foot two inches, but considering he was eighteen and the oldest and most active of them, it wasn't too surprising. He'd also filled out even more, having much more muscle to fit his Kingly status. His hairstyle didn't change and neither did his clothes, still wearing gi's for the most part, but he didn't wear the Raiments of King's out of Dalaam, not wanting to draw attention when the Chosen Four simply wanted to relax and hang out. His personality had grown more strict whenever he was in Dalaam or around strangers, preparing himself for the role of King, but he'd grown more relaxed around his fellow Chosen, having learned sarcasm from Sapphire and Anthony's snipes, while laughing and smiling more.

Noct didn't own any suits, and instead of buying one as Sapphire did, instead chose to wear a deep purple sokutai, which he explained was a complex attire worn by the King for important ceremonies, and though it drew a few eyes from people around the room, Noct didn't notice or care, and a glare from Sapphire made them look away.

The reason that everyone was dressed so fancily, and not in their preferred casual clothes, was actually because Anthony was, as he'd said, graduating. No, not high school, but College. After just a few years. At the age of sixteen.

He was the son of Doctor Andonuts, after all.

Sapphire and Willow, being more average in intelligence, even if Sapphire was smarter with battle tactics, were simply in the junior year of their high schools, while Noct, now being eighteen, was crowned the King of Dalaam. He had much less free time than he ever had before, but he _always _made time for important events his friends held, such as this. The actual graduation ceremony was a bit boring, though they did clap when Anthony was on stage, but afterward they quickly left, the stuffy atmosphere being too much for Sapphire and Willow so Anthony took pity on them.

"Anyway," Sapphire said through his blush, "Where do you guys want to go eat?"

"I'd prefer something filling, yet fancy, perhaps-"

"Pizza!" Willow cheered.

"We're in suits and Noct is wearing a sokutai, I don't think-"

"Pizza it is," Sapphire grinned.

"I am interested in this 'pizza.' What is it?"

Sapphire adopted a fake fancy accent and began waving his hands wildly while squeezing his fingers together. "'Is a spicy italiano dish, mamma mia!"

"I am physically recoiling," Anthony groaned.

"Whoa, you can speak Italian?" Willow giggled.

"Of course. MOZZARELLA!"

"I'm going to pass out from a stupidity overdose."

"This Italian sounds fascinating…"

"You gotta be careful of Gang-Stars and shit though, shake my head."

"I have lost track of this conversation," Anthony sighed.

"I think we've settled on pizza."

"God… whatever, man." Anthony looked annoyed, but only Sapphire, Willow, and Noct were close enough to the boy to spot the minuscule twitches that indicated him trying not to smile. When they were far enough from Anthony's university, Sapphire teleported them all to Stonehenge, and they climbed up onto the rocks, the starry sky and bright, full moon being their only light. Sapphire flipped open his new Nokia, dialing up Mach Pizza and giving them their current address.

It was weird how Mach Pizza could get a pizza anywhere within a few minutes, and all four Chosen speculated that the delivery men may have had some form of PSI. After the pizza got there they began enjoying the pizza while looking up at the stars and constellations. After finishing, Willow lay her head in Sapphire's lap, while he combed his fingers through her hair (after cleaning them of course), while Noct and Anthony lay down next to them. Anthony began pointing out the more unknown constellations, and Noct simply closed his eyes to rest while listening.

After pointing them out, Anthony stretched. "By the way, I learned a bit more about Scarabians, they also had some unique constellations."

"Do tell," Sapphire smiled, leaning back while still playing with Willow's hair. Anthony began explaining some of them, pointing to them and tracing them, until one caught his attention.

"Oh, that constellation there… see those stars that form a sort of pentagram? Then those others that show five triangles, one of them broken? That is the constellation of Aki-rah, the god of Hope, New Beginnings, and Stars. His symbol is a star, like Raco-Therisis, but his star is shattered, symbolizing his fall from grace, and subsequent return as a God who brought Hope to all who needed it most."

"Aki-rah, the god of new beginnings and hope… Aki...ra… That'd be a good name for a kid." He smiled to himself until he heard an 'eep' noise and looked down to see Willow blushing. "...Did I say that out loud?"

"Quite loudly as well," Anthony snarked.

"Are you planning on having a child?" Noct questioned. "The heir to the Leader of the Chosen Four and the Heart of the Chosen Four would be quite powerful."

"No! We aren't! Forget I said anything!"

Anthony began laughing while Noct chuckled, and both Sapphire and Willow blushed and hid their faces. For the rest of the night, the moon shone down on four laughing friends.

* * *

_Ten years after the War_

Sapphire chuckled, embarrassed, as the reporters kept asking questions. "Wow, lotta questions… Uh, you there."

"What's your training regimen? You have the highest home run rate of any baseball player in years, and you're only twenty-four years old, and still new to the baseball scene!"

"Oh, well, a normal regimen… I guess? Weightlifting, normal strength training, stuff like that… nothing special."

"There have been suspicions that you use drugs such as steroids to improve your performance."

His gaze hardened. "I love baseball and have been playing since I could hold a bat and throw a ball. I would never use drugs to create an unbalanced and unfair game." It was the truth, he never touched drugs, he didn't even like smoking, and he never used PSI. It wasn't like anyone would know he was using PSI of course, but it was the principle of the matter, using his powers to cheat would make him feel dirty. "I have taken several drug tests, and you can check them out if you don't believe me." As the reporter nodded and sat down, he picked another to speak, his eyes glancing at the television cameras pointing at him, and smiled at the thought of his family watching.

As Sapphire spoke, all the way across Eagleland Willow smiled as she watched the interview on television. It wasn't a weekday, so she didn't have to be at the preschool where she was a teacher and caretaker. She giggled as she heard cooing, and looked to see her and Sapphire's son pointing at the television from his playpen. "Yep, that's Sapphy. He can't hear you, but he knows we're watching!"

The boy giggled and clapped his hands, falling back onto his bottom. She looked at the time and put aside a dress she was folding, getting ready to make lunch when Tracey walked into the room. "Heya, Trace!"

"Hey, Wils," she smiled back. Tracey was staying over with them for the day, as since they lived so close to each other they usually spent time together. Tracey was a part of the police force, taking the grief and torment she felt from the invasion ten years prior as motivation to protect Onett.

"Just waking up then?" she teased, looking at her bed-head.

"I had a long night yesterday," Tracey pouted, looking away.

"Well, I was planning on making lunch now, but I could switch it up to brunch instead. Would you mind watching Akira?"

"Sure," Tracey nodded and sat down by the playpen, grabbing some of the toys to play with. Akira giggled and Willow turned away, smiling. She couldn't wait for Sapphire to get back home. Her favorite part of his PSI was that no matter where the baseball games took him, he could be back in Onett within seconds due to PSI, then get back to his team for training and games. He had called before the interview and said that afterward he would be able to come back for the rest of the day. She rubbed the gold wedding ring she wore, decorated by a pink sun and a blue star intertwined, identical to the one Sapphire wore across the country. She couldn't wait to spend the rest of the day with the man she loved. With her family.

On another continent, Anthony hummed and adjusted his glasses, looking over the results of the test he'd run. Everything was perfect. Another successful test. He smiled and put the paper away in a folder. It was best to keep everything organized, especially when he ran so many tests at the same time. He had assistants to help him, of course, he needed them when he had so many labs all across the world, but he still liked keeping track of his papers.

The Andonuts name had only gotten more famous with him, and with so many grants he could afford to have so many laboratories and employees, he even went on a few expeditions into Scarabian tombs, being able to explore them much more thoroughly. He kept all PSI research to himself and a secret however, knowing the dangers of it. He was learning much though, especially when Sapphire or Noct could spare the time to visit and helped him to conduct tests. He perked up at the thought of his friends visiting.

Maybe he should call them, and they could all hang out as they did from time to time. He just opened a new laboratory in Tokyo, and he knew Sapphire was still plenty interested in anime and manga even as an adult… perhaps they could make a day of it. He hadn't seen little Akira for a while either! He smiled and got back to work. He was working on something new, the power of cognition.

Far above the rest of the world, Noct sent away a farmer after agreeing to his request for several Earth users to create more farming land. More food was always good, and there were a few new novices that needed to practice with their abilities. Even though he had many more responsibilities as King, he never stopped training himself, for if there were ever a threat. He knew Sapphire did the same, and he looked forward to the next time they would have a match together.

Speaking of the outside world… Dalaam had become more integrated with the world at large, though just as Onett kept Sapphire's abilities a secret for his safety, Dalaam did the same. The sacred power of PSI in the wrong hands could be catastrophic, and he always had Anthony giving him reports on his own research to let him know everything was going fine.

His Sensei, as he would always think of the man as his Sensei, smiled at him from the side of his throne. "There are no more petitioners nor citizens today. Your schedule is free."

"Thank you, Sensei." He thought about what he wanted to do with his now free time. He supposed that he could train more. Mastering all forms of PSI was a personal goal for him. And he did need a trump card for the next time he and Sapphire had a bout, he chuckled. The few times Sapphire did go all out on him, the baseball player easily won. Although, perhaps he would relax, and use the chance to visit his friends without a bout. Sometimes, it was nice to simply enjoy time with his fellow Chosen, just like their youth.

The world did not know of the sacrifices they had paid to save it, and only a few recognized and remembered their actions, but that was fine. While yes, some of them had selfish reasons like wanting to protect and save their families, ultimately, they had done what they did to protect the world. And now, with bonds forged through Despair and Destruction, they could live their lives in peace.

Or, most could. One of them, in particular, had excitement in their future, though it was still far away.

* * *

_Twenty-Three years after the War_

"Stop!"

"Don't let him get away!"

A figure garbed in black smirked, silver eyes glinting behind a mask. He jumped across lighting fixtures, using his natural and trained acrobatic skills to balance his weight and not fall as he heard his team of thieves speaking among themselves through the power of their Navigator's Persona. He dove and grabbed a pole, using it to launch himself higher. He sailed through the air, landing with a roll on stable ground.

Without warning an electrical baton whizzed past his face, but he simply dodged as if he knew it was coming, grasping the man's arm and tossing him behind him, down to the ground below.

"Grab him already!"

"Stop, thief!"

"He's just one person!"

He laughed, mocking them as he continued sprinting. He jumped across several lights, before gripping a railing and flipping onto the platform above him. As he landed, he skidded to a stop as two guards appeared in front of him, clad in black suits. They suddenly flashed and changed, their bodies becoming bulkier underneath their suits with their skin turning midnight black, and their stances becoming more hunched and feral as they transformed. Their faces were now covered by purple masks with golden eye holes, and they quickly charged at him.

An attack came from behind, and he dodged forward towards the two, before spinning and jumping towards his attacker, another of the transformed guards. He landed on his head and gripped his mask, and after a second of struggling, ripped the mask from his face with a shower of black blood. The suited man stumbled as he leaped off of him, and within seconds became a puddle of black ooze, before bursting up into the form of a massive bull-like creature.

The figure in black wasn't intimidated, however, and instead smirked as he lifted his hand to his own face, and ripped off his mask. Cerulean flames burst to life and took the place of his mask, while behind him appeared his other self, a tall male humanoid with a red suit separated in two, black angel wings, long devilish horns over a flaming face, and a black top hat. "**I am Thou, and Thou Art I. We shalt unleash our rage and destroy all who stand in our way!"**

He smirked at his other self's words, commanding him forward to destroy the creature before him. The monster attempted to roast him with a pillar of flames, but his summon dodged effortlessly and eradicated the creature with one strike. The other men in suits attempted to run forward, but before they could reach him a massive, pure white explosion threw both men back.

"Megiodolan!"

He perked up at the voice and turned to see a man with silver eyes similar to his own and wearing Egyptian garb jump down from a higher balcony and land with a thud. "What are you doing here?"

"What? Not happy to see me? I thought you'd be a bit more excited!"

"I think I remember saying that I would be the distraction."

"It's more distracting when there's two of us, ain't it?" He just sighed at the man and turned back to see more men in suits appearing, some of them already transforming into monsters.

"Well, if you're already here…" He pulled out his favorite dagger, while the man grinned.

The man grabbed a curved sword from his back and reached up, pulling off several bindings from his face, revealing a facial structure similar to his own and identical silver eyes, before cerulean flames erupted and a figure appeared behind him, hovering next to his own. It was a male creature wearing only ragged tan cloths over its lower half, with its upper half covered in Egyptian armor. On its back were wings, though they were flaming and blue, while his face was covered in rags like a mummy, and one eye peered out, burning blue as well. "**I am Thou, and Thou art I. We shalt cut through their lies!" **

They stood back to back and watched the creatures approach them. "Ready, Akira?"

"Codenames, dad."

His father grinned and winked. "Of course, of course. Ready, Joker?"

"Ready, Raider."

They pointed their hands forward, sending their Personas into battle. "Ra-Theris, entomb them!"

"Arsene, ravage them!"

_To be continued in:_

_Bound By Our Desires_

* * *

**And so, the journey has come to an end. But of course, the (insert word for book form of trailer here) has shown that Sapphire's journey is not over. I'm sure that this may clear up some questions on how I'll be doing a sequel, but I'll answer some general things people might have questions about, and if you have anything specific to ask you can review or PM me, but if I deem it a spoiler than I won't answer, sorry.**

**Yes, Joker is going to be Sapphire's kid in the sequel, Bound By Our Desires. Figured it was an apt name considering the plot of Persona 5. I'm also going to be using the manga version of Joker's name, Akira Kurusu, though of course being Sapphire's kid his name is instead Akira Starr. Sorry for those more used to the anime name of Ren Amimiya, (is that how ya spell it?) but I'm just not used to that name. Plus, Akira sounds more like a **_**Joker **_**name you know? It sounds sharp, just like how even though Joker is a silent protagonist he has a lot of personality being really smarmy, over-the-top and flamboyant, and when he does speak on his own, and what options you're given, are sarcastic, witty, and pretty sharp.**

**Those who've played Persona and know that Joker can command gods, demons, and mystical figures, I'm sure you can now see why there was an extra emphasis on the religions of Scaraba and Dalaam. Besides the Personas that Joker can already command, (Arsene, Lucifer, Thor, Yoshitsune, etc) I can add the gods and demons of two new religions, like Viol-fo, Aki-rah, and Napil. **

**Joker will be the protagonist and main character of Bound By Our Desires, as you might have been able to tell from the epilogue being from his POV. Of course, POVs will be switched a lot, Ryuji, Ann, Sapphire, mostly because Persona has a heavy emphasis on the power of bonds. After all, half the game is about fighting monsters, and the other living a normal school life and making friends. Seeing other people's perspectives will be helpful in this. **

**The story of the Chosen is over, and it's The Wielder of Hope's child's turn now. Sapphire's role will be more of a mentor, alongside fighting beside his son, but as I said, he is no longer the main character. I'll probably have Ant, Wils, and Noct show up once or twice, especially since I'll be incorporating the power of PSI into the sequel, and how it mixes with the power of Cognition. **

**Anyway, other stuff. I put in a one-off line at the beginning of the chapter about the 'invitation' to Smash, and I guess you can imagine him going to the tournaments between snippets during the chapter. Smash isn't really integral to my story, so I didn't give it a big thing. Although I could put in a joke in BBOD where Sapphire realizes since he and his son are both in Smash he can legally beat his ass. Ha. I don't own Smash Ultimate, but I play it at a friend's house and always play Joker and Link since they're two of my favorite video game characters, and I love Joker's smarminess. Besides, they're fun to play.**

**If you follow an Author's profile you'll be notified when they update any of their stories or publish a new story, so you don't have to stalk my profile if you want to read the sequel, lol. Of course, if you don't enjoy my other stories, and I wouldn't hold that against you, I'll be adding another chapter to this story, which will just be an Author's Note saying the new story is up. So keep this story on your 'follow' list and it'll let you know when BBOD is out. Won't be for a while, once again, I want to work on AND and WA, but I have several chapters already finished for BBOD. Although I might have to change a few things for when Royal comes out since it apparently has a new ending, plus its new characters… oh well. I have an excuse to play Persona 5 for the tenth time. **

**I actually didn't plan for this epilogue to be so long, I would have been fine if it turned out to be shorter than the usual 5000 word chapters, but I wanted to go over one scene with each Chosen, and then two scenes with all the Chosen's lives and what they were doing after the War With Giygas and it just escalated to this. **

**In any case… this is it. The epilogue for BBOD, and so, the final chapter. I want to sincerely thank you all for reading and coming along on this journey with me. I had a great time writing this, and I PSI Hope you all enjoyed reading it. I'll finally be able to switch a story from 'ongoing' to 'complete' and I am **_**so**_ **not ready for that… Kinda happy that the last chapter of the story was 33, rounding it out, and the epilogue is 34. **

**If you aren't interested in the sequel and just came along for the Chosen Four's journey, then thank you so much for joining me, and if you'll be sticking around for the sequel and my other stories, then that'll be a few more journeys we take together. So, one final time, and I'm sure you all know how it goes.**

**If you enjoyed this chapter, then leave a review on everything you liked or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. **

**See y'all later.**


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